TORONTO — Before fielding questions from reporters during his annual All-Star weekend press conference, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman elected to come right out with a statement about the current status of the 2018 Canada World Juniors sexual assault case.
TSN reported that lawyers representing five players — the Devils’ Michael McLeod and Cal Foote, the Flyers’ Carter Hart, the Flames’ Dillon Dube and former Senators player Alex Formenton — confirmed this week that their clients have been charged with sexual assault for their alleged involvement in a group sexual assault of a woman in a hotel room after a Hockey Canada gala June 18, 2018, that honored the junior men’s hockey team’s gold medal.
All five players were arrested Jan. 26 and intend to plead not guilty, according to TSN.
Their next appearance date is scheduled for Feb. 5, which is also when London (Ontario) Police are set to hold a press conference.
The report also reveals that McLeod was charged with a second count of sexual assault for “being a party to the offense.”
All four of the aforementioned active NHL players, as well as Formenton, who is playing in Europe, were granted a paid indefinite leave of absence from their respective teams.
Lawyers for the accused players have released statements maintaining the innocence of their clients, but none of the claims have been tested in court.
“I want to talk about this up front because I’m going to tell you everything that I believe I can say, or is appropriate to say,” Bettman read from a sheet of paper Friday afternoon. “I want to be clear, from the moment we first learned about this on May 26, 2022, I have repeatedly used the words abhorrent, reprehensible, horrific and unacceptable to describe the alleged behaviors. Those words continue to apply. Given the events of last week, I believe further context on our process and overall timeline is important.
“We made a commitment to and did, in fact, launch an external investigation into the 2018 incident. This task was complex because of a variety of factors, not the least of which was that our authority has limitations, the volume of information, the passage of time and the fact that other investigations are going on at the same time — specifically the reopened investigations in both Hockey Canada and the London Police Service.”
Bettman revealed the NHL took approximately 12 months to complete the investigatory stage, during which investigators conducted interviews of all players on the 2018 Canada team, as well as “other relevant individuals who were willing to participate.”
The victim — identified by the initials E.M. in the lawsuit — declined to participate in the NHL’s investigation.
The NHL, according to Bettman, did not have advance notice from London authorities of the impending charges. Despite reports of indictments, the NHL had not received official confirmation from London Authorities as of Friday afternoon.
“At this stage, the most responsible and prudent thing for us to do is await the conclusion of the judicial proceedings, at which point we will respond as appropriate at the time,” Bettman said.
While no charges were filed when the alleged group sexual assault was first reported to London police in 2018, the victim sued Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League and eight unnamed players for $3.55 million four years later.
Hockey Canada settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount, but an investigation unearthed the organization’s use of secret slush funds — filled from minor hockey membership fees — to pay out settlements for uninsured liabilities, such as claims of sexual assault and abuse.
The fallout for Hockey Canada was catastrophic. With its governance and transparency embroiled in scandal, it led to a series of parliamentary hearings, as well as funding and sponsorship freezes or cancellations.
Hockey Canada president and CEO Scott Smith ultimately left the organization in October 2022. The rest of the board of directors followed him out the door.
As for the three remaining players who were cited in the initial lawsuit and whose names have not become public, Bettman reiterated that the NHL interviewed all players from that team and said he is unsure what the judicial process is going to look like.
Bettman declined to comment on the findings from NHL’s investigation, but said the league did not announce its results because it was in the process of working with the NHL Players Association to decide how best to use it moving forward.
NHL deputy commissioner and chief legal officer Bill Daly said the league does not intend to release any information while the charges are pending.
Citing the fact that all four active NHL players are on leave from their respective teams and set to become free agents at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, Bettman said he would be “surprised” to see the players return to the ice while a trial is pending.
That being said, in order for these teams to terminate the contracts of the players who are on leave, they would have to prove the legitimacy of their reasoning.
Asked if the information that comes out of the London Police press conference is damning enough to suspend the four players without pay, Bettman said that wasn’t a necessary topic to discuss at this stage and that they’ve already been paid the bulk of their salaries for the year, anyway.
“That’s not the concern,” he added. “The concern is to get this right.”
