2018 Canadian Junior Team | The identities of the five accused players are known

Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote are believed to be the four other 2018 Junior Team Canada players, in addition to Alex Formenton, to have been ordered to surrender to London police to face criminal charges. sexual assault.

This is what TSN revealed and learned from two sources close to the matter on Tuesday. Only lawyers representing McLeod reacted immediately to the television network’s news.

“London police charged Mr. McLeod with sexual assault,” admitted David Humphrey and Seth Weinstein. Mr. McLeod denies having committed any crime. He will plead not guilty and vigorously defend his innocence. »

Formenton already went to the police on Sunday, while the others must do so by February 5, the date on which the London police department will hold a press conference on the subject.

According to a TSN interview with former head of the Toronto Police Service’s sex crimes unit, Gary Ellis, once they arrive at the station, players will be photographed and fingerprinted. They will then be asked to sign an undertaking not to have contact with the alleged victim.

All the players concerned left the entourage of their respective clubs last week.

Remember that the hockey world fell into shock after a young woman filed a lawsuit, in April 2022, against eight former players of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), against the league itself and against Hockey Canada. She accused these players, some of whom had just won the gold medal at the World Junior Championship, of having attacked her in a London hotel room after a gala organized by Hockey Canada in 2018. She had strong faculties weakened at the time of the events.

The lawsuit detailed degrading actions committed by the alleged attackers and mentioned that the young woman had been pressured, at the time, by the defendants so that she would not denounce them. The matter was quickly resolved amicably with Hockey Canada. The victim was seeking $3.55 million, including $2 million in past and future monetary damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

Three investigations

Since the alleged events of 2018 came to light, the NHL and Hockey Canada have also commissioned investigations, the findings of which have not yet been made public.

At Hockey Canada, the external investigators’ report was referred to an independent panel, which was mandated to hold a hearing to determine whether certain suspects had violated Hockey Canada’s code of conduct and, if so, what should be the sanctions imposed on these players. The tribunal provided its final report to all parties involved, and one of them filed an appeal. The process is still ongoing.

At the NHL, it was announced in May 2022 that it would conduct an investigation. Interviews with 2018 Junior Team Canada players spanned months. Commissioner Gary Bettman and his deputy Bill Daly made numerous media interventions to assert, laconically, that the process was moving forward. Even though the investigation has been completed for a long time, its conclusions have never filtered outside the walls of the league offices.

The collective agreement binding the league to its players vests the commissioner with discretionary power to impose sanctions following actions committed off the ice. Gary Bettman therefore has the right to suspend a player, impose a fine on him or even terminate his contract.

The five players

Carter Hart, 25, was drafted in the second round (at 48^e rank) by the Flyers in 2016. In 26 games since the start of the season, he has had a record of 12-9-3, in addition to maintaining a goals against average of 2.80 and an efficiency rate of ,906.

Michael McLeod, a 25-year-old center, was drafted in the first round (12^e rank) by the Devils in 2016. He played in all 45 games for his team this season, recording 19 points.

Cal Foote, also 25 years old, was drafted in the first round (at 14^e rank) by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2017. The defenseman was traded to the Nashville Predators last spring before signing a contract as a free agent with the Devils during the summer. He has only played four games in New Jersey so far, during which he has collected one assist.

Formenton, a 24-year-old striker, was drafted in the second round (at 47^e rank) by the Ottawa Senators in 2017. In his first full season in the NHL, in 2021-2022, he scored 18 goals and amassed 32 points in 79 games. Having become a restricted free agent in July 2022, he has not signed a new agreement with the Senators, although he remains on the reserve list. He was playing this season in Switzerland.

Dillon Dube, 25, was drafted in the second round (at 56^e rank) by the Flames in 2016. In 43 games this season, he amassed 7 points.

These five players requested and received leave “indefinitely” from their respective teams in recent days.