{"id":191385,"date":"2025-09-13T08:20:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T08:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/191385\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T08:20:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T08:20:13","slug":"nhl-says-players-acquitted-in-hockey-canada-sexual-assault-trial-can-return-to-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/191385\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL says players acquitted in Hockey Canada sexual assault trial can return to league"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael McLeod, left, Cal Foote, Dillon Dub\u00e9, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart were found not guilty of sexual assault in July.Geoff Robins\/Sammy Kogan\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The National Hockey League has cleared the way for the five members of Canada\u2019s 2018 world junior hockey team who were acquitted of sexual-assault charges<\/a> to return to the NHL.<\/p>\n

The league issued a statement Thursday that said Dillon Dub\u00e9, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod will be eligible to sign new contracts \u201cno sooner than October 15, 2025, and eligible to play in NHL games no sooner than December 1, 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n

The five players had each been charged in connection with an alleged assault on a woman in a London hotel room after a Hockey Canada gala in June, 2018. <\/p>\n

The episode ignited a firestorm of criticism of the country\u2019s hockey culture when it came to light in the spring of 2022, prompted parliamentary hearings, and forced a leadership change within Hockey Canada.<\/p>\n

Justice Maria Carroccia cleared the men of all charges after an eight-week trial that included more than a week of cross-examination of the complainant, known publicly as E.M. The judge said she did not find the woman\u2019s evidence to be \u201ceither credible or reliable\u201d and instead found that she consented to sexual activity with the players.<\/p>\n

Crown in Hockey Canada sex-assault trial won\u2019t appeal not-guilty verdict<\/a><\/p>\n

The NHL revealed on Thursday that its own investigation and the result of the court proceedings led it to determine \u201cthat the conduct at issue falls woefully short of the standards and values that the league and its member clubs expect and demand.\u201d It added that each of the players, during in-person meetings with the league after the verdicts, \u201cexpressed regret and remorse for his actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its statement, the NHL said the events that followed the gala in London, \u201cwere deeply troubling and unacceptable. The league expects everyone connected with the game to conduct themselves with the highest level of moral integrity. And, in this case, while found not to have been criminal, the conduct of the players involved certainly did not meet that standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of the players\u2019 lawyers responded to requests for comment by The Globe and Mail.<\/p>\n

In its statement, the league said it had \u201ccarefully evaluated the players\u2019 acquittal in court and the time spent away from the game.\u201c In considering the appropriate discipline, the league noted that \u201cthe players have been away from the game for 20 months.\u201d <\/p>\n

In fact, the decision means that the men will be officially barred from league play for a little more than two months, from the beginning of the 2025-26 preseason on Sept. 20 to Dec. 1. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Alex Formenton arrives to court in London, Ont., on July 24, while protesters in support of complainant E.M. stand behind him.Sammy Kogan\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

All four who were playing in the NHL in January, 2024, when London Police laid charges, were granted leaves of absence by their teams. (Mr. Formenton, who was then with the Swiss hockey league, was also granted leave.) <\/p>\n

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said at the time that it was not necessary to suspend the men, as they were already away from their teams and all of their contracts would be expiring at the conclusion of that season.<\/p>\n

The NHL Players\u2019 Association released a statement applauding the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cUpon their full acquittal by Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia, we initiated discussions with the NHL regarding the players\u2019 return to work. To avoid a protracted dispute that would cause further delay, we reached the resolution that the league announced today. We now consider the matter closed and look forward to the players\u2019 return.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the manosphere, the Hockey Canada trial\u2019s not-guilty verdict is viewed as a vindication<\/a><\/p>\n

At the time of the players\u2019 arrest, Mr. Dub\u00e9 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.<\/p>\n

Mr. Formenton, who had previously been a member of the Ottawa Senators, was playing for the Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta. <\/p>\n

Last week, Mr. Formenton re-signed with Ambri-Piotta on a contract that runs through the end of December, with an option through to the end of the season. <\/p>\n

His NHL rights are held by the Senators. Earlier this week, the team\u2019s general manager, Steve Staios, told reporters that he would not comment on whether the Sens would be interested in repatriating Mr. Formenton if he were cleared to play in the NHL.<\/p>\n

The players still remain sanctioned by Hockey Canada. The organization suspended the entire 2018 world junior team when the incident came to light in June, 2022 \u2013 preventing them from playing, coaching, officiating, or volunteering with any programs overseen by the organization. <\/p>\n

The Hockey Canada sexual-assault trial is over, but conversations about the sport\u2019s culture continue<\/a><\/p>\n

In November, 2023, the organization announced that an independent adjudicative panel held a hearing on the matter and rendered a decision, but an appeal had been filed. That process was suspended pending the conclusion of the criminal trial. <\/p>\n

On Thursday, Hockey Canada confirmed that there had not been any change in the players\u2019 status.<\/p>\n

The sexual-assault allegations became public in 2022, when TSN revealed that Hockey Canada, had quietly settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by E.M. against the national sport governing body and eight unnamed members of the junior team, for an undisclosed sum. This was done without the knowledge of the players, who were each identified as John Doe. <\/p>\n

Shortly after, The Globe then exposed the existence of the National Equity Fund, a special multimillion-dollar fund built through player registration fees that Hockey Canada has used to settle sexual-assault lawsuits.<\/p>\n

The ensuing scandal triggered parliamentary hearings and resignations at the highest levels within Hockey Canada. Ottawa froze federal funding for the sports body and sponsors such as Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire and Bauer withdrew their support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Michael McLeod, left, Cal Foote, Dillon Dub\u00e9, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1018,1001,1019,967,991,1020,19,990,1008,1009,1004,992,989,1014,1016,1013,1007,1000,1030,993,994,1006,5,1002,1003,997,1021,998,1025,1026,4,1028,1023,1027,786,1024,995,1011,1012,333,1010,1022,86,1015,1017,1005,999,996,1029],"class_list":{"0":"post-191385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-hockey","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-nhl","39":"tag-northwest-territories","40":"tag-nova-scotia","41":"tag-nunavut","42":"tag-ontario","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-travel","53":"tag-trudeau","54":"tag-us-news","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}