Latest news with #HockeyCanada
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lightning's Ryan Hamilton named Mental Performance Consultant for Canada's 2026 Olympic Team
On Monday, Hockey Canada announced that the coaching and support staff who helped lead the team to victory at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February, will return for the 2026 Winter Games, scheduled for February 11–22 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
39 Players Named To Team Canada Under-17 And Hlinka Gretzky Camps
The summer of 2025 is proving to be a big one for dozens of young, promising WHL prospects, as Hockey Canada named their selection camp rosters for the World Under-17 Championships and Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament. Twenty-six players will be heading to Oakville, Ont. for the Under-17 camp while 13 individuals will also head out east for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup selections.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lightning's Jon Cooper Finalizes Team Canada's Coaching Staff for 2026 Olympics
On Monday, Hockey Canada announced that the coaching and support staffs who guided Canada to victory at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February, will return to lead the Men's Olympic Team at the 2026 Winter Games, set for February 11–22 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
France 24
6 hours ago
- Sport
- France 24
Judge to rule in sexual assault case that shook Canadian hockey
The players stood trial over allegations they assaulted a woman in a hotel room following a June 2018 celebration for a national men's junior team. Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, Carter Hart and Callan Foote have denied wrongdoing, insisting the accuser -- whose identity is protected -- consented to a variety of sex acts. The complainant, 20 at the time, met McLeod at a bar in London, Ontario, before having sex with him. That initial encounter is not at issue in the trial, which is about events that occurred after McLeod messaged a team-wide group chat asking if anyone was interested in a "three-way." The players have confirmed participating in sex acts with the complainant and an initial police investigation produced no charges. Media investigations then revealed Hockey Canada, a governing body, used funds from subscription fees paid by ordinary families for a $3.55 million CAD ($2.6 million USD) out-of-court settlement with the woman. Public outrage forced the resignation of Hockey Canada's board, and London police, under a new chief, re-investigated the case led by a female detective with expertise in sexual assault. Western University law professor Melanie Randall, who has closely followed the case, told AFP the flawed initial investigation included an "inappropriate fixation" by the detective on the complainant's alcohol consumption. Randall added the first detective didn't apply up-to-date understandings of consent under criminal law, the issue that defined the trial. "Consent has to be voluntarily and freely given, and it has to be contemporaneous with each and every sexual act," Randall said. "You can't give consent in advance and you can't give it retroactively," she added, calling that a "powerful shift in (Canadian) law." Consent video The trial heard that players made videos of the complainant saying she was OK with what happened. Prosecutors argued the decision to make a video indicated concern the sex was not consensual. Hart, a former NHL goaltender, testified such videos were common practice among professional athletes. Randall noted, "the idea that you could film someone afterwards and say -- 'hey, this was all consensual, right?' -- to prove that there was consent is actually completely discordant with how consent is defined (in Canadian law)." In a landmark 1999 decision, Canada's Supreme Court barred defense lawyers in sexual assault cases from a tactic it called "whack the complainant." Scholar have defined this as withering cross examination attacking a complainant's credibility through outdated stereotypes about sexual encounters. Raising their entire sexual history, alleged promiscuous behavior, or questions about why they did not resist are prohibited. For Randall, defense lawyers in the hockey case committed "a pretty egregious and blatant example of whack the victim, full force," citing "nine days of brutal cross-examination." Hockey culture Some commentators have rejected claims the case exposed broader issues in hockey culture, arguing the sport remains a positive force for hundreds of thousands of young Canadians despite a disturbing incident involving several players. But Simon Darnell, a professor of sport for development and peace at the University of Toronto, told AFP "it would be a problem to say that these five men were somehow bad apples and that there's nothing systemic here." Regardless of whether the judge finds the players guilty, Darnell said the conduct in the hotel room needs to be addressed. "Young, elite male hockey players grow up in an environment, where they are told both implicitly and explicitly that they are really important," he said. "They probably grew up feeling like sexual conquest was this thing that they're owed as a result of being a hockey player," he added, urging more work to foster a sports culture that emphasizes "a positive form of masculinity."
9 hours ago
- Sport
The sexual assault case against 2018 Canada world junior players nears a verdict
LONDON, Ontario -- A judge is set to deliver her verdict Thursday in the sexual assault case in involving five members of Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team. Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Cal Foote, Dillon Dube and Alex Formenton faced a trial after an incident that occurred in London, Ontario, in 2018. A woman sued Hockey Canada in 2022, alleging she was sexually assaulted by eight members of Canada's world junior team after a fundraising gala in London in 2018. Hockey Canada settled the lawsuit, and then an investigation revealed the organization had two secret funds to pay settlements on claims of sexual assault and abuse. London Detective Sgt. Katherine Dann said in announcing charges in early 2024 that London Police received a call on June 19, 2018, from a relative of the victim and launched an investigation. That was closed in 2019 with no charges. The 2022 suit, which sought $3.55 million in damages and was dropped after reaching the settlement with Hockey Canada, led to police reopening the investigation and charges against five members of the team. The NHL launched its own investigation in 2022. Officials pledged to release the findings, though Commissioner Gary Bettman said in February that would depend on what the league can say given legal proceedings. The woman testified in May that she was naked, drunk and scared when four of the men showed up unexpectedly in her room at the Delta Hotel London Armouries in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018, and felt the only 'safe' option was to do what they wanted. Prosecutors contend the players did what they wanted without taking steps to ensure she was voluntarily consenting to sexual acts. Defense attorneys cross-examined her for days and suggested she actively participated in or initiated sexual activity because she wanted a 'wild night.' Hart, formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers; McLeod and Foote, formerly of the New Jersey Devils; Dube, formerly of the Calgary Flames; and ex-NHL player Alex Formenton, who had been playing in Europe with Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta, were charged with sexual assault. McLeod is facing an additional charge of being a party to the offense of sexual assault. All five pleaded not guilty. None is on an NHL roster or has an active contract with a team in the league. Hart was the Flyers' No. 1 goaltender, while McLeod and Dube were regulars. Foote, a defenseman and son of former NHL player Adam Foote, primarily spent this past season in the American Hockey League. Formenton played in 109 games for the Ottawa Senators from 2017 through 2022 before going to Europe. Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia is solely responsible for handing down a ruling in the case after dismissing the jury in May, following a complaint that defense attorneys were laughing at some of the jurors. Carroccia said she had not seen any behavior that would cause her concern but concluded the jury's negative impression of the defense could impact their impartiality, a problem that could not be remedied. There is a wide range of outcomes if any of the men are found guilty, with sentences in Canada for varying degrees of sexual assault ranging from no mandatory minimum up to 10 years in prison. It was not immediately clear whether the players would be able to return to the NHL if they are found not guilty. Bettman has said the league will let the legal case play out before taking any steps. Whatever the judge decides, Bettman has wide latitude to make decisions in the interest of the game when it comes to off-ice behavior. The league in 2019 suspended Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov for the 2019-20 season and ensuing playoffs after determining he committed acts of domestic violence. Shane Pinto was suspended for 41 games for violating the league's gambling policy. an arbitrator jointly hired by the league and union to rule on disputes, when necessary. Hockey Canada, meanwhile, has lost several sponsors, including Nike, and its CEO and board resigned in 2022 in the wake of this and other scandals.
