The southwestern Ontario city of London will be under a spotlight Monday as a high-profile, multi-year probe into allegations of sexual assault involving players from Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team makes its way to court.
Five players — Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod — were charged late last month with sexual assault in an incident that allegedly took place in the city in June 2018. A court document shows McLeod is facing an additional charge of sexual assault for “being a party to the offence.”
Lawyers for the players have said their clients will defend themselves against the allegations, and all five are expected to plead not guilty. None of the allegations have been tested in court.
The case is set to make its first appearance in a London court Monday morning, just hours before local police are scheduled to give an update on their investigation, which was initially closed without charges months after the incident but reopened years later in 2022.
The attention given to court cases such as this one can stir important conversations on consent and how it is or isn’t addressed within sports culture, said Katreena Scott, the academic director of Western University’s Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children.
This case in particular comes as sports organizations have faced scrutiny over their handling of sexual assault allegations, she said.
“We have been having a conversation that hasn’t gone far enough yet around how major sports organizations respond to …sexual assault, how they respond to individual incidents and accountability for that,” she said.
“And so it’s not only how does sport, how do major sport organizations respond to (or) fail to respond to incidents of sexual assault, but also what are they doing in a preventative way, in an education way, and in a culture change way to address the problem?”
Michael Kehler, a research professor of masculinities studies at the University of Calgary, said cases such as this one are part of a “long narrative” around sport culture and masculinity. Traditionally, he said, men and boys in those spaces have faced little scrutiny over their conduct.
“That’s kind of the context and I think that what we’re witnessing here is something that I think, both in our research around masculinities and sport culture, we’ve known for quite some time,” he said.
Four of the accused play in the NHL: Dube for the Calgary Flames, Hart for the Philadelphia Flyers, McLeod and Foote for the New Jersey Devils. Formenton previously played for the Ottawa Senators before joining a team in Switzerland. All have been allowed to go on indefinite leave from their professional clubs.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman addressed the criminal charges Friday at a news conference ahead of the league’s all-star festivities in Toronto.
The NHL launched its own investigation after hearing of the allegations in May 2022 and was in the process of determining how to analyze and act on its findings when news of the impending charges broke last month, he said.
“All of the NHL players who appear to be subject of indictment are no longer with their teams, so at this stage, the most responsible and prudent thing for us to do is await the conclusion of the judicial proceedings, at which point we will respond as appropriate,” he said.
Hockey Canada also conducted an investigation parallel to the police and NHL probes. The organization has not issued an official statement on the charges.
A police application for a search warrant filed in 2022 said there were grounds to believe a woman was sexually assaulted by five players on the junior team.
The charges are connected to an alleged group sexual assault of a woman identified only as E.M. in a London hotel room, the document shows. The incident allegedly occurred following a Hockey Canada ceremony celebrating the players’ victory at that year’s world junior tournament.
In the application, a lead investigator lays out E.M’s and multiple players’ accounts of that night. The document is heavily redacted, meaning many details cannot be seen, particularly regarding players’ statements to police. The players’ names are also redacted.
E.M. told investigators she went out to a bar to meet some friends on the night of June 18, 2018. She ended up meeting several players on the dance floor and spent most of the evening with them, she told police. They kept buying drinks, and she had eight shots and a vodka soda on top of two coolers she’d had at home, the document said.
In the early hours of the morning, she left the bar with one of the players in a taxi. E.M. told police she went with him willingly but didn’t think she would have done so if she hadn’t been so drunk.
They went together to a hotel room and engaged in consensual sexual acts, the document said. E.M. told police that everything that happened afterward was not consensual.
She said the player was on his phone and appeared to be texting. Several of his friends then came into the room — she recalled about seven or eight at some point, the document said. She recognized some from the bar. The player she had come to the hotel with was absent for a period when he went to get food, the document said.
Most of the alleged sexual acts are redacted from the search warrant application. She tried to leave on a few occasions, and while no one physically stopped her from doing so, they told her to stay and walked her back, E.M. told police.
E.M. told investigators she couldn’t remember exactly how the night ended but she was left alone with the player she had gone to the hotel with and his roommate. More redacted acts occurred, the document said. The player suggested she should leave because he had golf in the morning, the document said.
Two brief videos of E.M. were taken, and she believed they were shot at the end of the night, the document said. In one, it reads, a male voice asks her if she’s “OK with this,” and she agrees. In the second, the same male voice tells her to “say it,” and she replies, “OK, it was all consensual.”
She told police that even though she said she was fine, she felt she had no choice because she was stuck in the room with the others.
E.M. took an Uber home and the driver consoled her on the way, the document said. That driver had not been identified at the time the document was filed.
E.M.’s mother told police she found her daughter crying in the shower. E.M. told her mother she had gone to a hotel with a guy and thought it would just be him, but then others arrived in the room and asked her to do “horrific things,” the document said.
E.M.’s parents reported the incident to police and Hockey Canada. Sometime later, the player E.M. accompanied to the hotel contacted her through social media and urged her to retract the police report, the document said.
The player was interviewed by police and told them he met E.M. at the bar and they drank together, but he didn’t know how much she was drinking. They took a cab together to the hotel. After the sexual activity, he ordered food, the document said.
The player confirmed he texted his teammates to come to his room, but he couldn’t remember exactly who came, and he told police E.M. seemed fine with their presence, the document said.
He told police he left for five minutes to get his food and when he returned, sexual activity was taking place. The details of this and much of what happened after are redacted.
The player took the first video because he “was worried something like this (in reference to a police investigation) would happen,” the document said. He made the second video to obtain her consent at the end of the night, it said.
The player told police he found E.M. on Instagram after hearing from Hockey Canada that a report had been made to police, the document said.
The player’s roommate told investigators he heard there was a woman in their hotel room who wanted to do redacted sexual acts. He said he went to the room with others, at least one of whom left within a few minutes. Most of his account is redacted.
Other players described going to the room and seeing a woman there along with several teammates, but the details of their accounts are largely redacted.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2024.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
