The GIST: Reports have surfaced that five players from Canada’s gold medal–winning 2018 World Juniors team are facing sexual assault charges and have been instructed to surrender to authorities in London, Ontario. This is extremely disappointing.
The backstory: As highlighted in yesterday’s episode of The GIST of It, the alleged incident took place in June 2018, when a woman was reportedly sexually assaulted by multiple members of the World Juniors team following a gala celebrating their victory.
After initially closing the case in 2019, police reopened their investigation in 2022 when the woman filed a $3.5M lawsuit against Hockey Canada. She accused the organization of being aware of her assault but failing to take action. Although Hockey Canada reached a settlement with her outside of court, it was later discovered that they had three separate funds for settling sexual assault cases, having paid out $7.6M to nine survivors (excluding the 2018 incident) since 1989.
The current situation: While official charges have not yet been brought forward, four active NHL players and one former NHL player (all part of the 2018 World Juniors team) have been granted indefinite leaves of absence from their respective teams in recent days. The NHL also conducted its own investigation into the matter, but the findings have not been made public.
London Police (ON) will be holding a press conference on February 5th to provide updates on this ongoing situation. In the meantime, the Halifax Regional Police have reminded the public that their investigation into a separate sexual assault allegation involving the 2003 World Juniors team is still underway. When will this cycle end?
