In London, Ontario, four current NHL players, and one former NHL player were formally charged with sexual assault in court on Monday.
Four players were charged with one count of sexual assault including Cal Foote, Dillon Dube, Carter Hart, and Alex Formenton.
One of the players, Michael McLeod, was charged with an additional count of sexual assault.
The victim and two witnesses have not been named, as proscribed by Canadian law.
Ahead of the NHL All-Star weekend of events, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman offered comments on Friday.
“They’re away from their teams now and they’re all [restricted] free agents [after this season],” Bettman said. “As a personal matter, if I were them, I’d be focusing on defending themselves assuming the charges come down. I would be surprised if they’re playing while this is pending.”
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Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Foote and McLeod of the New Jersey Devils, and Dube of the Calgary Flames have been on indefinite leaves of absence from their tea,s since late January.
Formenton is on leave from his Swiss club, HC Ambri-Piotta.
As reported in these pages earlier, the NHL conducted an investigation, only after London Police had reopened their own investigation in 2022.
“Our investigators reviewed volumes of information and conducted interviews of all players on the 2018 team, as well as other relevant individuals who were willing to participate in an investigation,” Bettman said on Friday. “We had concluded the investigatory portion of our process to the extent we could, and we were working with the NHL Players’ Association to analyze the information we had, create a process to move forward and then determine what was an appropriate response when the news of the impending charges broke last week. We had heard similar rumors before about the possibility of charges, none of which had come to fruition. And in this instance, we did not have advance notice from the London authorities.”
The reopening of the law enforcement process was sparked by Hockey Canada’s quiet settlement of the case, using funds from a secret account.
The results of the NHL’s investigation will not be released as stated by NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly.
“There is a serious judicial process that looks like it’s unfolding, and we didn’t while we were doing our investigation want to interfere with what the London Police Service was doing and we’re not going to do anything to interfere or influence the judicial proceedings,” Bettman said. “We’re all going to have to see how that plays out and we will then be in a position to respond appropriately, which we will do.”
London Police Chief Thai Truong provided a press conference on Monday, from London.
“This investigation has been a lengthy and complex process,” Truong said on Monday. “I want to recognize the victim for her courage and her incredible strength throughout. … I want to extend, on behalf of the London Police Service, my sincerest apology to the victim, to her family for the amount of time that it has taken to reach this point. As a police officer working in this space for many, many years, I can tell you that this is a On Monday, difficult, difficult situation for all victims and survivors of sexual violence.”
Throng offered responses to the reopening of the investigation in 2022.
“Information came to light as a result of the community, and part of what we do is listen to the community,” was all that Truong would offer as to the origins of the reopened investigation, adding that the accuser cooperated with police throughout. Dann said that some evidence was not available in the initial investigation.
Hockey Canada released the following statement following the London Police press conference on Monday.
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CALGARY, Alberta – Today, the London Police Service announced serious criminal charges against five former National Junior Team players pertaining to an alleged sexual assault in 2018.
Hockey Canada has cooperated fully with the London Police Service throughout its investigation and we are committed to continuing to support the legal process.
In November 2023, it was announced that a notice of appeal was filed in response to the final adjudicative report by an independent panel that held a hearing with a view to determine whether certain members of the 2018 National Junior Team breached Hockey Canada’s code of conduct, and if so, what sanctions should be imposed against those players.
Pending the completion of the appeal process, all players from the 2018 National Junior Team remain suspended by Hockey Canada, and are ineligible to play, coach, officiate or volunteer with Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs.
The appeal process remains ongoing and out of respect for it and the legal process, we are unable to comment further at this time.
“Hockey Canada recognizes that in the past we have been too slow to act and that in order to deliver the meaningful change that Canadians expect of us, we must work diligently and urgently to ensure that we are putting in place the necessary measures to regain their trust, and provide all participants with a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment on and off the ice,” said Katherine Henderson, president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada.
Since last year, Hockey Canada has implemented significant measures to improve the culture of the sport and the safety of participants, including:
- Requiring all national team athletes, coaches and staff to undergo a mandatory enhanced screening process, and complete training on sexual violence and consent
- Adopting the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport
- Becoming a full signatory to Abuse-Free Sport and the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC)
- Establishing an Independent Third Party for any hockey-related maltreatment complaints against anyone affiliated with Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs who fall outside of OSIC’s jurisdiction
- Hosting the first Beyond the Boards Summit, which was led by external subject-matter experts to help establish a roadmap to change the culture of the game at all levels
- Implementing recommendations from an independent governance review led by the Hon. Thomas Cromwell, C.C.
- Publishing an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Path Forward, which includes a Commitment to Action statement that summarizes our ongoing work to drive long-term, sustainable change within the hockey ecosystem in Canada.
We are committed to being transparent and accountable to Canadians as we drive these important changes forward and empower victims of maltreatment to feel comfortable to bring forward their complaints in a process that is victim-centred and trauma-informed.
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“I want to extend on behalf of the London Police Service my sincerest apology to the victim, to her family for the amount of time that it has taken to reach this point,” Truong said at a news conference with dozens of reporters on hand. “This should not take this long. It shouldn’t take years and years for us to arrive to the outcome of today.”
“I truly am not happy about this,” Throng said.
The reopened investigation has been led by London Det. Sgt. Katherine Dann. The detective’s comments were notable. McLeod was charged with two counts for aiding another individual to commit the offense.
Detective Dann said, “……additional steps that could have been taken to advance the investigation”.
There is no room for the missed opportunity for justice in 2018 and beyond. What should have been a resolved matter in as early as 2019 or 2020, has now festered to a scandal from Canada, Hockey Canada, and now the NHL.
The searching for excuses has begun. And there is no room for that.
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