People Want Paintings Of Hockey Players Accused — Not Convicted — Of Sexual Assault Scrubbed From Wall Of Fame

There's no question that the situation surrounding five members of Team Canada from the 2018 World Junior Championships — Carter Hart, Dillon Dube, Michael McLeod, Cal Foote, and Alex Formenton — is incredibly serious.

The five are charged with sexual assault dating back to an incident alleged to have occurred in London, Ontario in 2018.

And while the situation is incredibly serious, none of the players has been found guilty of anything.

Yet people already want to act like they have been.

Hart, Dube, McLeod, and Foote are all on leave from their NHL clubs, while Formenton left his pro team in Switzerland. 

So, all of their pro careers have been put on pause while the Canadian justice system determines whether or not the players are guilty of the heinous crimes they're accused of committing.

But, as we already mentioned, that hasn't happened.

Patrick White, a reporter for Candad's Globe And Mail, did a story about the WHL's Kelowna Rockets and their Wall of Fame.

Why is that even remotely relevant to this story? Well, that's because Dillon Dube and Cal Foote, both played for the team and were added to the club's Wall of Fame in the summer of 2018 following their win at the 2018 World Juniors.

This would also have been after the alleged sexual assault in London.

Kelowna Rockets' General Manager Bruce Hamilton stands on the ice between Dillon Dube and Cal Foote in 2018. (Photo by Marissa Baecker/Getty Images)

So, given that the two were implicated in this incident, there have been calls for their paintings to come down.

When White asked the club's GM Bruce Hamilton he said, "I’m not getting caught up in this."

Of course, Hamilton has a point. While both players have been charged, neither one has been found guilty of committing any crimes. Of course, his answer didn't sit well with the crowd that can't seem to remember that little legal tidbit about being innocent until proven guilty.

You'd think somewhere between Duke lacrosse and Matt Araiza we would've learned a thing or two about knee-jerk reactions to accusations.

Yes, these players are accused of doing something terrible, and Canadian authorities have charged them and they'll have their day in court… even if it takes a while.

However, as we've seen many times, an accusation could be proven baseless. 

Fortunately, while some wanted to watch their reputations crumble without a trial, there were plenty of others who understood the situation at hand.

Who knows how this situation will shake out? But now that the wheels of the Canadian justice system are in motion, why do people want to jump to the conclusion that these guys are guilty?

Unfortunately, that's a disturbing trend we've seen more and more of over the years.

Let it play out. If they're guilty, you'd better believe those paintings are getting covered up.

However, if they're proven innocent, Hamilton and the Kelowna Rockets organization should be commended for not rushing to ruin these players' reputations before the truth comes out.