Hockey Canada bans members of 2018 world junior squad from participating in national team events
According to TSN’s Rick Westhead, members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior Championship team will not be permitted to participate in national team programs until an investigation of an alleged group sexual assault has been completed.
In a statement from Hockey Canada to TSN, a spokesperson said that Hockey Canada had made the decision earlier this year to ban those players from participating in events until the investigation into the process had completed.
This prohibits the players from taking part in the 2023 men’s World Championship, set for Latvia and Finland from May 12-28. Players on the 2018 team include Cale Makar, Carter Hart, Drake Batherson, Alex Formenton, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, among others. No players have been named to the 2023 men’s senior roster.
Hockey Canada has been under scrutiny for its handling of cases allegedly involving players from the 2003 and 2018 Canadian world junior teams. In May of 2022, a woman had settled a $3.55 million lawsuit against Hockey Canada, the CHL and eight former CHL players surrounding the 2018 team.
An unnamed woman alleged that she was sexually assaulted by members of Canada’s world junior team, with the London, Ont. police originally closing the case without pressing charges. Henein Hutchinson, a litigation firm, conducted its own investigation, which Hockey Canada received in December, according to Westhead. At this time, nothing has been proven in court, and no offending players have been named.
The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage passed a motion on Monday that required Hockey Canada to hand over the report.
Many of Hockey Canada’s biggest sponsors, including Nike, Canadian Tire, Telus, Scotiabank and Tim Hortons have either suspended or fully pulled out of supporting men’s team activities, among other moves. Hockey Canada recently hosted the 2022 and 2023 World Junior Championships and will host the women’s World Championship in Brampton next month.