The NHL has been made aware of Hockey Canada’s allegations of sexual assault scandal.
On January 24, The Globe and Mail said that five players of the 2018 team were told to show up in court to face sexual assault charges.
The Globe also said that the players have a certain amount of time to show up at the London police headquarters.
Rick Westhead of TSN said that several sources told him that Carter Hart, Dillon Dube, Michael McLeod, Cal Foote, and Alex Formenton are the five players involved. There is still no word from London Police on the names.
Paris Police said, “We are unable to provide an update at this time,” as reported by Katie Strang of The Athletic.
“When there’s more data to share surrounding this investigation, we will be in contact via media outlets.”
British police say they will hold a press conference on Monday, February 5, to give more information about their investigation into what happened in 2018.
The scandal with Hockey Canada and the 2018 Canada World Junior hockey team is almost over.
London Police said in a statement, “We understand that there is a lot of public interest in a sexual assault investigation that goes back to 2018.”
“We anticipate that the LPS will hold an announcement on Monday, February 5, 2024, for further details.”
The investigation into this matter has been going on for a long time. Westhead said in March 2023 that The Heritage Committee had voted unanimously in favor of a motion telling Hockey Canada to hand over the final report from law firm Henein Hutchison’s investigation of the alleged sexual assault.
In December 2022, London, Ontario police said they had “reasonable grounds” for thinking that five members of the year 2018 Canada World Juniors hockey team assaulted a woman in a hotel room following a Hockey Canada fundraising gala. This was written in a court document sent to the Ontario Court of Justice.
The 94-page record that was sent to the courts in October gives a general idea of what is said to have happened on June 19, 2018, though some files have been redacted. No charges have been brought yet.
London Police looked into the sexual assault claims at first in 2018, but in February 2019 the case was closed without any charges being made. In 2022, the investigation began again.
On December 20, Hockey Canada said that their investigation was over and that an extra panel would decide if any punishments were needed. They promised to keep the results secret while the London Police continued their investigation.
To top it all off, Hockey Canada said last year that for the foreseeable future, no player from the 2018 World Juniors team can play for Canada’s national team at any kind of IIHF event.
The five players involved are said to be current NHL players Carter Hart, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, and Michael McLeod, as well as past NHL forward Alex Formenton. The London Police have not yet confirmed the names of the players.
So far, only Formenton has told the London Police about the player. Formenton, a forward who used to play for the Senators, was given time off by his Swiss league team, HC Ambri Piotta, on January 24. On Sunday, January 28, he turned himself into the London Police.
Their lawyers said in a statement, “The London Police have charged several players, including Alex Formenton, in connection with an allegation made in 2018.”
“Alex will vigorously argue for his innocence or urge that people not jump to judgment without getting all of the evidence.”
The four additional players from the 2018 team were given indefinite leaves of absence from their hockey teams either in the days before or right after London Police said that five members had been asked to turn themselves in.
“Mental health” caused Dube to leave the Flames on January 21, and on January 23, Hart was given time off from the Flyers.
On the same day that Formenton took time off from his Swiss team, the Devils gave both McLeod and Foote indefinite leaves of absence.
Before the 2018 Canadian World Junior Team, many of the players either put out personal statements or had their agents put out statements on their behalf saying they had nothing to do with it.