May 9, 2022. Dallas, Texas, USA. A view of fans, the arena, and the Canadian flag during the Canadian national anthem before the game between the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames in Game 4 of the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Required Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports Trial dates for five professional hockey players facing sexual assault charges in Canada are expected to be set for a June 11 hearing, The Athletic reported Tuesday.
Lawyers for the players appeared virtually before Judge Alyssa Mitchell on Tuesday to hear about the dates.
Those on trial include five players from Canada's 2018 World Junior Hockey Team, four of whom started the 2023-24 season on NHL rosters. The trial is not expected to begin until the fall.
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).
The men are accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a London, Ont., hotel room in June 2018 after a fundraiser for the Hockey Foundation of Canada.
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.
–Field level media
