Five Hockey Canada players are now allowed to return to play in the NHL after they were acquitted from all charges related to an alleged sexual assault.
In 2018 during the IIHF World Juniors, a worldwide tournament that includes 10 countries; Canada, United States, Finland, Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic, Russia, Switzerland, and Belarus, a 20 year-old woman was at the same hotel that some of Team Canada’s players. After the tournament, the accuser went o the London, Ontario police and pressed charges of sexual assault. The London police investigated it until they decided to close the case without any charges in Feb. 2019.
The case opened back up by the London, Ontario Police in July 2022, after two years; the players were acquitted of all charges on Sep. 11.
The players, Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillan Dubé, and Cal Foote, have all signed new contracts in various leagues including; KHL (McLeod, Dubé), NHL (Hart), and NL (Formenton). Foote is not under contract anywhere and is considered an unrestricted free agent.
According to ESPN, the Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia, acquitted the charges due to how, “the complainant’s allegations lacked the credibility needed to justify the charges.”
Karen Bellehumeur, the woman’s lawyer, told ESPN reporters that her client felt unheard.
“She’s really never experienced not being believed like this before,” Bellehumeur told ESPN. “She agreed to do everything asked of her by the criminal justice system. She spoke to the police whenever requested, she reviewed her evidence, she prepared her testimony, she answered every question, she spoke with intelligence and from her heart, yet it was not enough.”
On Oct. 9, the NHL announced that these five players will be eligible to sign a contract in the NHL on Oct. 15. The one stipulation set is that if any of the five players sign a contract, then they cannot play until Dec. 1 which is considered a half-season suspension.
Only Carter Hart has signed a new deal in the NHL since this announcement, with the Vegas Golden Knights. Hart signed a two-year contract with an average annual value $2 million.
Vegas put out a statement on the nhl.com website to reassure the public that they wish to hold their players to a high level off off-ice conduct.
“We remain committed to the core values that have defined our organization from its inception and expect that our players will continue to meet these standards moving forward.”
