Hockey Canada trial: First NHL player testifies, says he doesn't remember much

Vancouver Sun

01-05-2025

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LONDON, ONT. — She was dressed just in a towel pulled up and smiling at the camera on Canadian hockey player Michael McLeod's cellphone.
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It was 4:26 a.m. inside a room at the Delta Armouries hotel in downtown London on June 19, 2018.
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'It was all consensual. Are you recording me?' she asked in the video, played Wednesday for jurors at the sexual assault trial of McLeod and four teammates from Canada's 2018 gold-winning world junior hockey team, who were in London for a Hockey Canada gala.
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'You are so paranoid. Holy,' she said. 'I enjoyed it. It was fun. It's all consensual.
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'I am so sober, that's why I can't do this right now.' And with that, the video ended.
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The jury saw cellphone videos and security footage both in Jack's Bar — the Richmond Row establishment where the complainant, whose name is protected under a publication ban, met the players — and from the lobby of the hotel a few blocks away. The footage is all from early in the morning of June 19, 2018.
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But the most dramatic video was of the smiling woman who said everything was 'consensual,' played at the trial that has attracted media attention from across the country. The main issue, the Crown said at the beginning of the trial this week, would be consent.
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Also on Wednesday, the trial got its first look at some NHL star power when it heard testimony from one of the Team Canada squad, Taylor Raddysh, 27, who plays for the Washington Capitals. He testified remotely.
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McLeod, 27, Alex Formenton, 25, Cal Foote, 26, Dillon Dube, 26, and Carter Hart, 26, have all pleaded not guilty to sexual assault. McLeod also has pleaded not guilty to a second charge of sexual assault for being a party to the offence.
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The Crown has told the jury their case involves the then-20 year-old woman who says she was sexually assaulted in a hotel room by the hockey players.
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The jury saw two 'consent' videos taken in a hotel room. The first, filmed at 3:27 a.m., showed the woman, who was sitting and appeared not to know she was being recorded.
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'You're OK with this though, right?' a male voice can be heard saying. 'Are you OK with this?'
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'Yep, I'm OK with this,' she said.
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What followed was the second video filmed about an hour later of her smiling, flipping her hair, speaking clearly and calling everything that happened 'consensual.'
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Other videos filmed earlier in the morning at the bar show a crowded dance floor with strobing lights with the rowdy Canadian hockey players mostly dancing together and belting out the words to the music.
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The woman often is seen among the mass of players. At one point, she is picked up and carried around by co-accused and team captain Dubé.