In one of the biggest offseason stories in the National Hockey League, it has been determined on Thursday that five players with NHL experience (left winger Alex Formenton of King, Ontario, goaltender Carter Hart of Sherwood Park, Alberta, forward Dillon Dube of Golden, British Columbia, center Michael McLeod of Mississauga, Ontario, and defenseman Cal Foote of Kelowna, British Columbia) were found not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room in London, Ontario following a Hockey Canada event in 2018. The woman has been identified as “E.M.”
Why was there a not guilty verdict?
According to Nadine Yousif of the BBC, the judge in the court case, Justice Maria Carrocia, “did not find E.M.’s evidence ‘credible or reliable.'” The defense argued throughout the trial that E.M. had consented to having sex. According to Yousif, Hart testified in his own defence.
Why were the players in London to begin with?
The reason why Dube, Formenton, Hart, Foote and McLeod were in London was to celebrate Canada’s gold medal win at the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Men’s Hockey Championship in Buffalo, New York. In the gold medal game, Canada defeated Sweden 3-1. Hart was an instrumental player for Canada during the tournament. He had a goals against average of 1.81, and shutout Denmark 8-0 in Group A play.
What will happen next?
According to John Shannon, the former Hockey Night in Canada Producer and Rogers Sportsnet analyst has stated on X, “the five former World Junior Players who were acquitted in London today are not technically suspended by the NHL. But at this point, they are not eligible to play in the NHL. The Commissioner will have a say on their futures.”
It is expected the NHL will do their own internal review and investigation before the five players are cleared to return. At this time, we will have to wait until we hear a comment from Gary Bettman.
Where did the players play last season?
Dube and McLeod were in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia. Dube was in Minsk Dynamo and McLeod was with the Nur-Saltan Barys and Omsk Avangard. Fromenton did not play in 2024-25 after playing the previous two seasons in Switzerland. Hart has not played at all since January 20, 2024, while Foote played for Liptovsky Mikulas HK in Slovakia.
Update:
The NHL put out the following statement on Friday:
“The allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing and the behavior at issue was unacceptable. We will be reviewing and considering the judge’s findings. While we conduct that analysis and determine next steps, the players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the League.”
