Bettman said the NHL does not want to make any comments while the Hockey Canada trial is taking place.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman would not say whether any of the five former world junior hockey players on trial for sexual assault in London, Ont., would be allowed to return to the league if they are acquitted.
Speaking at a news conference in Edmonton ahead of the first game of the Stanley Cup final – and just days before closing arguments are set to begin in the players’ criminal trial – Mr. Bettman said that the league wants to let the court proceeding play out.
“We have said continuously we are not making any comments while the judicial process is taking place. We respect that,” Mr. Bettman said Wednesday. He then added: “I want to be clear. What has been alleged is abhorrent and disgusting and should not be allowed.”
The commissioner’s latest comments echo a statement he made at the NHL’s All-Star Weekend in Toronto in February, 2024, shortly after the players were charged, in which he called the allegations “abhorrent, reprehensible, horrific and unacceptable.”
Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote have each been charged with sexual assault in connection with an alleged attack on a woman at the Delta Armouries hotel in London, in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018. The players were in town for a Hockey Canada gala, where the team’s win at the world championships earlier that year was being celebrated. Mr. McLeod faces a second charge of being a party to sexual assault. Each has pleaded not guilty.
Four of the five players had been playing in the NHL prior to their arrest. Mr. Dubé was a member of the Calgary Flames, Mr. Hart was with the Philadelphia Flyers, and Mr. McLeod and Mr. Foote were playing for the New Jersey Devils. Mr. Formenton was playing for the Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta at the time. But he had previously been a member of the Ottawa Senators.
In January, 2024, London police ordered all five men to surrender to face charges, and the players took leaves of absence from their teams. During the trial, Mr. Hart – who was the only player to testify in his own defence – told the court he is a free agent, meaning he is still eligible to play in the NHL but not signed to a team.
One question hanging over the proceedings has been whether the players would be able to return to the league if they are found not guilty. The issue came up during a pretrial scheduling hearing last year, when the Crown and defence teams were debating whether to start the trial in April or September.
Defence lawyers argued that their clients were eager to clear their names in order to perhaps return to NHL play.
But it has never been clear if they would be permitted to return, even if a team was willing to take them on. The NHL conducted its own investigation into the alleged hotel room assault, but the results of that probe – which was finished in 2023 – have not been made public.
At All-Star Weekend in February, 2024, Mr. Bettman said, “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.”
The players’ criminal trial began in late April and closing submissions are scheduled to begin Monday and last about three days.