Five Ex-Team Canada Players Plead Not Guilty As Sexual Assault Trial Begins

Five former NHL and Team Canada players were in a London, Ontario courtroom on Tuesday as their sexual assault trial gets underway.

Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, and Carter Hart all face one count of sexual assault, while Michael McLeod faces two charges of sexual assault, including one for aiding in the offense.

For the first time since their charges were announced last year, all five — who were teammates on Canada's gold medal-winning 2018 World Junior Championship team — were in the courtroom where each one of them pleaded not guilty.

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According to Sportsnet, the charges stem from an alleged incident in London involving a woman who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by eight men, including members of that gold medal-winning WJC team. An original investigation revealed insufficient evidence to pursue charges, but when a TSN report in 2022 revealed that Hockey Canada had settled with the alleged victim, the case was reopened, and the players were charged in January 2024.

Foote and McLeod were members of the New Jersey Devils when the charges were announced last year, while Dube and Hart were playing for the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers, respectively. All were subsequently released by their teams.

Meanwhile, Formenton was playing in Switzerland at the time the charges were announced and has since retired from professional hockey.

Five ex-NHLers and former Team Canada players have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault charges.. (Photo by Andy Devlin/ Getty Images)

Before returning to Canada for their trial, McLeod and Dube were both playing in Russia, while Foote was playing in Slovakia.

The start of the trial on Tuesday also revealed that several current NHL players could be called upon to testify as witnesses. These include Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues, and Drake Batherson of the Ottawa Senators, all three of whom are currently playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.