A sexual assault lawsuit against five players on Canada's 2018 World Junior Hockey Team, four of whom started the 2023-24 season as NHL roster players, will not go to trial until the start of next season. .
Lawyers for the players appeared virtually before a judge in London, Ont., on Tuesday, primarily to coordinate scheduling. The attorneys were ordered to file pretrial motions by Oct. 23, and the court set a hearing on the motion for Nov. 25, keeping 15 days on the calendar, TSN reported.
A trial date has not yet been set.
Police confirmed at a Feb. 5 press conference that sexual assault charges had been filed against Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Cal Foote, Dillon Dube, and Alex Formenton.
Hart, McLeod, Foote, Dube and Formenton are each charged with one count of sexual assault. McLeod faces additional charges of being a party to a crime.
The players deny any wrongdoing and the charges have not been proven.
Formenton was a former NHL forward playing in Switzerland at the time of his arrest, and the other four were active NHL players on paid leave from their teams — Hart (Philadelphia Flyers) and Dube (Calgary Flames). , and McLeod and Foote (New Jersey Devils).
Pretrial motions allow attorneys to request a court ruling on specific issues before trial, such as introducing specific evidence or obtaining a court order to obtain additional evidence.
TSN reported in May 2022 that a woman identified only by her initials in court documents had settled a $3.55 million lawsuit she filed against Hockey Canada and other defendants, including eight unnamed players.
The woman reported that the alleged assault occurred in a London hotel room in June 2018 after a fundraiser for the Hockey Canada Foundation.
Following news of the settlement, Canada's Parliament convened a committee hearing to learn more about the incident, but as details emerged, sponsors fled and several Hockey Canada board members and executives were fired. It was done. London police later reopened the investigation following public outcry. After that, accusations against the players continued.
