New Jersey Devils defenceman Cal Foote, the son of Vancouver Canucks assistant coach Adam Foote, is among four players charged with sexual assault of a woman stemming from an alleged incident during a Hockey Canada event in London, Ont., in June 2018.
Sports
Canucks: Cal Foote, son of Vancouver assistant coach, among World Junior players charged with sexual assault
Four members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team have been charged with sexual assault, which has put hockey’s culture back under the microscope.
Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames, Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers and Michael McLeod of the Devils have also been charged, according to their lawyers, while former Ottawa Senators forward Alex Formenton, who was playing in Switzerland, reported to London police on Sunday to be charged.
More details are expected at a London Police Service press conference Monday.
The accused players were members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior Hockey Championship entry at Buffalo that captured gold with a 3-1 victory over Sweden, which is overshadowed by the alleged incident that has again placed hockey’s culture under the microscope.
Foote’s lawyer, Julianna Greenspan, responded with a statement:
“I can confirm that my client was charged with sexual assault. Cal is innocent of the charge and will defend himself to clear his name. What is most critical at this time is the presumption of innocence, and the right to a fair trial, that everyone in Canada is entitled to.”
Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford is empathetic as Adam Foote processes the charge facing his son.
“At this point, we just support him through a difficult time, but we really don’t have a comment on the bigger situation,” said Rutherford.
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet regards Adam Foote as a close friend and coaching confidant.
“He’s standing tall — I can’t say anything more than that — and he’s fine. He’s good,” Tocchet said Jan. 24 when Cal Foote was requested to report to London police.
Former Canucks goaltender Corey Hirsch played for the Kamloops Blazers — who captured the 1992 Memorial Cup in Seattle — in the hockey-mad sporting city and was schooled in proper conduct to represent the team and the city.
Hirsch, 51, was appointed to Hockey Canada’s board of directors in November to help the troubled organization regain respect, credibility and wellness.
Hirsch was never naive to assume that 16-year-old players riding on a bus with 20-year-olds for eight or nine hours to the next Western Hockey League destination aren’t affected by what veteran players have experienced on and off the ice.
“In hockey, I always go back to this: You have 16- and 17-year-olds on a bus with 18-,19- and 20-year-olds. The older players are college students and adults and experimenting with whatever. Younger players are listening to college-age people talk about sex and life,” he said.
“It can be: This is what it takes to be a man … The things I saw on a bus. In Kamloops, we were good people. We were monitored … but I saw stuff that I shouldn’t have seen, or heard, or learned stuff that I shouldn’t have learned.
“What do 18-year-olds know about love, relationships and sex? They know nothing. And they’re teaching 16- and 17-year-olds. They’ve learned what they’ve learned and the culture passes it on. It could be a kid coming from not a great home, or whatever, and looking for something. Scott Niedermayer (former Blazer) would never be like this.
How anyone can conclude that a culture of deplorable deportment is somehow valid — as opposed to proper conduct as a valued teammate and citizen — simply stuns Hirsch. He’s struggled with mental health issues, including an acute obsessive-compulsion disorder, but this is different.
“This (alleged incident) isn’t a one-off,” stressed Hirsch. “This is junior hockey and a life-in-general thing. Have a sexual-assault victim come in and talk to these hockey kids and let them know exactly what it is, what it has done to them as a human being. That should be mandatory training.
“It’s one thing to have a psychiatrist come in and say: ‘This is what it does to people.’ Bring in a victim. Then we’ll see change.”
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps will begin their post-season campaign with a play-in game against the Timbers in Portland on Wednesday.
The ‘Caps (13-13-8) ended the regular season with a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday and finished eighth in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference standings.
The eighth and ninth spots from each conference meet in a play-in game this week, with the winner going on to face the No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs.
Each eighth-place team was set to host the play-in game, but Vancouver announced Friday that its home stadium, B.C. Place, is not available, so the club will cede home-field advantage to Portland (12-11-11), the ninth-place team.
The ‘Caps and Timbers split their three-game series during regular-season play, with each side taking a win, a loss and a draw.
The first round of the MLS playoffs is set to begin next weekend.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
SANDY, Utah (AP) — Diego Luna scored a tying goal in the 73rd minute and Real Salt Lake added another on an own goal for a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night to set a single-season club record for points.
Real Salt Lake (16-7-11) secured the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference and will face Minnesota in the first round of the Major League Soccer playoffs. RSL reached 59 points this season, topping the 2012 team with 57.
Vancouver (13-13-8) will play the Portland Timbers on Wednesday in a wild-card game for a chance to play top-seeded LAFC.
Luna settled a long cross from Braian Ojeda before taking four touches to slot home a shot inside the far post for his eighth goal of the season.
RSL went ahead in the 83rd when Vancouver goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer misplayed a lofted ball that rolled into the back of the net.
Vancouver midfielder Ryan Gauld opened the scoring in the 58th to become the first player in club history to produce multiple seasons with at least 10 goals and 10 assists.
—
AP MLS:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Sports
Juan Soto’s 3-run homer in 10th sends Yankees past Guardians 5-2 and into World Series for 41st time
CLEVELAND (AP) — Juan Soto’s arrival last winter was supposed to be that move that pushed the New York Yankees back to the top.
They’re one step away.
Soto hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning and the Yankees advanced to their 41st World Series — and first in 15 years — by beating the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series on Saturday night.
Baseball’s biggest brand is going back to October’s main stage.
Soto, who was acquired in a seven-player trade from San Diego in December, pushed the Bronx Bombers into position with one big swing.
This was why he came, for this moment and for so many more.
“We’re right where we belong,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who pulled off the deal for Soto.
The Yankees will try to win their 28th title against either the New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers. Game 6 of the NL Championship Series is on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
In the third consecutive tight game in three nights at Progressive Field, Austin Wells walked with one out in the 10th and Alex Verdugo followed with a grounder to Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez, whose soft toss to the bag was dropped by rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio for an error.
Hunter Gaddis struck out Gleyber Torres and had Soto in a 1-2 count before New York’s stylish outfielder sent a shot over the wall in center. Soto danced down the first-base line and paused to celebrate with his teammates before circling the bases.
“I was just saying to myself, `You’re all over that guy. You’re all over that guy. He ain’t got anything,’” said Soto, who moved alongside his manager, Aaron Boone, as the only New York players to homer in an extra-inning, series-clinching win.
Luke Weaver got the final three outs with Lane Thomas flying out for the last one, which was caught by Soto.
“We get to play for a world championship,” Boone said. “That’s pretty sweet.”
The 25-year-old Soto is eligible for free agency this winter, and Yankees fans chanted “Re-sign Soto!” during the postgame festivities. He’s expected to get a contract upwards of $600 million, and his heroics in Game 5 may have raised his price.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer and was named ALCS MVP as the Yankees took care of the Guardians in five games. It wasn’t easy.
New York won the first two at Yankee Stadium without much fanfare or any major drama. However, it was a different story in Cleveland as all three games at Progressive Field were nail-biters.
The Guardians rallied to win Game 3 on two, two-run homers in their last two at-bats, and the Yankees held on to win Game 4 after blowing a four-run lead.
“This was a rollercoaster and we were able to just keep punching back,” Stanton said. “We know there’s much more work to do and it’s only uphill from here and we got to get it done.”
Cleveland just didn’t have enough and a surprising season under first-year manager Stephen Vogt ended just short of a World Series. The franchise remains without a title since 1948, baseball’s current longest drought.
“There’s only one team that gets to win the last game of the year, and unfortunately it’s not going to be us,” Vogt said. “But we accomplished a lot as a group. We got better. We worked extremely hard. I couldn’t be more proud of this group. We just didn’t get quite as far as we wanted to.”
The Yankees are back in the World Series, back where their fans expect them to be every year.
The club’s 82-80, fourth-place finish in the AL East last season led to some “soul searching as an organization” during the winter, according to Boone, who has been widely criticized but is one of just three managers to take New York to playoffs in six of his first seven seasons.
While the team’s core stayed mostly intact, getting Soto in a blockbuster trade on Dec. 7 — New York sent five players to San Diego for the three-time All-Star — accelerated the team returning to title contender.
“That was a good day,” Boone said with a laugh before the game.
Stanton’s 446-foot rocket into the left-field bleachers tied it at 2 in the sixth and chased Tanner Bibee, who had struck out New York’s dangerous DH in his first two at-bats and held the Yankees scoreless for the first five innings.
It was Stanton’s fourth homer in this series — his third in three days — and his 16th in the postseason, moving him into fourth place on the club’s career list behind Bernie Williams (22), Derek Jeter (20) and Mickey Mantle (18).
Before the game, Boone was asked what makes Stanton so good.
“He can hit it harder than anyone, first of all,” Boone said. “So there’s the physical nature of what he does that’s different than just about everyone in the world.”
But Boone went on to compliment Stanton’s discipline at the plate, “his approach, his process, how he studies guys.”
“There’s something that he does when he gets familiarity with people on top of being very physically gifted,” Boone said.
The Guardians took a 2-0 lead in the fifth off Carlos Rodón on Steven Kwan’s RBI single with two outs. But Cleveland missed a big chance for more, leaving the bases loaded when Lane Thomas grounded out on the first pitch to him from Mark Leiter Jr.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (elbow strain) had another successful live batting practice session. The reliever remains on track to join the Yankees on their World Series roster. Boone said Cortes would throw again early next week. Cortes went 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA in 30 starts.
___
AP MLB:
News20 mins ago
Everything is warmups for the New York Yankees until they get to the World Series
News24 mins ago
Dodgers finish off Mets with 10-5 win in NLCS and advance to face Yankees in World Series
News26 mins ago
New York Liberty win first WNBA championship, beating Minnesota 67-62 in OT
Investment5 years ago
dynaCERT Inc. Invites You to Join Us at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference | INN – Investing News Network
Sports5 years ago
AP source: Bears acquiring quarterback Nick Foles from Jaguars – Sportsnet.ca
Media1 year ago
12 Bizarre Things People Did Just To Make Social Media Content
-
News6 hours agoCalmer weather helps contain Oakland, California, fire that forced evacuations
-
Sports24 hours agoWhitecaps, Timbers to face off in play-in match in Portland
-
News6 hours agoIsrael says it will target Hezbollah’s financial arm and begins striking Beirut
-
News12 hours agoBC NDP, Conservatives in tight fight to the finish, with no clear winner in B.C. election |
-
News6 hours agoIn one portrait, an AP Photographer tells the story of how difficult the job of a miner is
-
News6 hours agoGeorgia authorities investigating a dock gangway collapse that killed 7 on a historic island
-
Politics12 hours agoHarris tells Black churchgoers that people must show compassion and respect in their lives
-
News6 hours agoMan shot and killed in Markham, Ont., driveway; police say attack was targeted
