Front Burner - Former Canadian world junior hockey players face sex assault charges

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

Four NHL players, and one pro European player, are charged with sexual assault, in a troubling story that began years ago. The charges relate to the alleged group assault of a woman in 2018, that took place when the accused were members of Canada’s world junior hockey team. Katie Strang is a senior investigative writer with The Athletic and walks us through these new charges — and whether anything has actually changed in hockey since this scandal first came to light. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Damon Fairless. Just a heads up before we begin, we're going to be talking about sexual assault in this episode, so please listen with care. Four NHL players and one pro-European player have been charged with sexual assault. The identities of the former Canadian World Junior Hockey team members are now public.

Each player is currently on a leave of absence from their NHL teams. This is the latest development in a troubling story that's been unfolding now for years. These charges relate to the alleged group assault of a woman in 2018 that took place when the accused were members of Canada's world junior hockey team. Hockey Canada has settled a lawsuit involving an allegation of sexual assault against players, including some now playing in the NHL.

The NHL says the details in the unnamed woman's statement of claim are abhorrent and reprehensible. Since then, there have been controversies, investigations, and demands for accountability and change. Is hockey culture toxic? Hockey Canada, the whole country is watching. Hockey Canada is under intense scrutiny for its handling of a group sexual assault allegation in 2018.

MPs say it's time for change at the top. Hockey Canada has completely lost the confidence of Canadians. There needs to be wholesale change. The hits are piling up for Hockey Canada has completely lost the confidence of Canadians. There needs to be wholesale change. The hits are piling up for Hockey Canada. Tim Hortons has now suspended its funding to the national organization. Joining Scotiabank, TELUS and Canadian Tire. Canadians have been clear. They expect those representing our national sport to do better.

We own it and we will do better. My guest today is Katie Strang. She's a senior investigative writer with The Athletic, and she's going to walk us through these new charges and whether anything actually has changed in hockey since this scandal first broke. Hey, Katie, thanks for coming on FrontBurner. Appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me. So I want to talk about these new charges, but I want to do that in just a minute. First,

I was hoping you can kind of take us back. Give me a quick refresher on the 2022 lawsuit and this incident that's alleged to have happened in 2018. in 2018? Yeah, so the substance of a 2022 lawsuit was made public. TSN broke this story in 2022 that a young woman had come forward, identified only by initials EM, and that she had claimed in this lawsuit that she had been the victim of a gang rape involving multiple members of the Canadian World Junior Hockey team. Ron, earlier today, TSN's Rick Westhead reported that Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League have settled a lawsuit involving eight CHL players, including members of the 2018 gold medal winning world junior team. The allegations not proven in court indicated a woman was sexually assaulted while intoxicated at a June 2018 event in London, Ontario.

And this was following a celebratory gala that was honoring their world junior championship win. celebratory gala that was honoring their world junior championship win. And I want to be careful here, but I think it's important that we talk about what are some of the details that came out of that lawsuit? Yeah. So the young woman said that she was assaulted in the hotel room over the span of several hours, that she was spit on, that her buttocks was slapped, that she was degraded, humiliated, laughed at, and intimidated by players who she said had golf clubs in the room, they had a golf outing the next day, and that she had retreated to the bathroom

at several points of the night, that she was disassociating, that she was crying, and that on multiple occasions that she was showing signs of distress, that players had sort of coaxed and encouraged her to stay in the room and continue to, you know, engage in these sexual acts that she made very clear in the lawsuit complaint that she did not consent to. And so those allegations were part of this lawsuit, but that lawsuit was settled out of court by Hockey Canada, right? These allegations came from a statement of claim in that lawsuit, and they were never tested in court. I was hoping you can take me through one by one the five players who've been charged. Sure. Carter Hart, who is a goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Alex Formington, who previously played in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators, he has since been playing overseas this past season and the season prior, I believe. Mike McLeod and Cal Foote, both members of the New Jersey Devils, and Dylan Dubé, a member of the Calgary Flames. The men have taken leaves of absence from their teams and through their lawyers claim they're innocent and are vowing to fight the charges. There was a lot of speculation at the time about the identities of the players in this lawsuit, you know, before they came forward this week.

That's right. The identities of the players involved has been a topic of rampant speculation. You know, I would say within hockey circles, within probably the larger Canadian sport community on some level, you know, this topic and this story has really transcended even sports, but also, you know, culture and I think larger societal issues as well. So this has been a topic that people have discussed with keen interest and great fervor and concern. And I think that has made those identities, you know, something that people have been very curious about. So this is for the first time in a long time, we are getting clarity now. I think there's a possibility that more names could come out in

terms of people that, you know, have not been charged, but were potentially witnesses to the incident as well. So in the original lawsuit, you mentioned the complainant's anonymous. She's, you know, identified by her initials EM. And there are, you know, a lot of good reasons why she wants to stay anonymous in a sexual assault case. I guess one of the questions I have, and I think a lot of people are asking is, do we know the degree to which she might be involved in this investigation. And, you know, I think it would be implausible to imagine that the police would lay charges if they were not receiving some level of cooperation and participation on her end. The original lawsuit mentions eight players. Five have been charged criminally. Do we know anything about what's happening with the other three players? No. And in fact, there's some discrepancy, obviously, between the five and the eight. But then there's also another interesting element.

There was an information to obtain application that became public in the wake of this case as well. The Globe and Mail broke that story. And in that application to the court, the police actually believe that upwards of 12 players may have been in the room at the same time as EM as these incidents were happening. So we have five players who have been charged with sexual assault. But as the police say in this application, there are additional players who have potentially information to offer and who may have been witnesses to this incident. So, I mean, I guess I'm asking you to speculate, but it sounds like those people would potentially be brought in as witnesses or could be. I think that's very possible. Yes. Okay.

So this incident from 2018 is alleged to have happened in London, Ontario. That's where the charges have been laid. That's where the case will be heard. London police so far have been pretty mum on it. They haven't said much to media so far. They've got a press conference scheduled for early next week, this coming Monday. Are you expecting to learn anything from that? I'll be honest. I'm not expecting there to be a ton of substance that

it's revealed from that press conference only because, you know, the identity of the five individuals have already been disclosed, not by the police, but by their attorneys. And so I imagine beyond the names of the individuals, the exact charges, and perhaps next steps, I am not anticipating a ton of, you know, substantive material about the fruits of their investigation or the contours of their investigation or, you know, any part of their, you know, strategy or evidence that they possess. You know, in the same way that I think they were very circumspect while there's an active, you know, investigation going on, you know, as this moves to the courts, I imagine they

will be similarly tight-lipped about what they're able to divulge and share with the public. So we're talking about five professional hockey players charged with sexual assault. And I can think of a lot of cases of sexual assault in pro sports, but none that have this many people involved in a single incident. So I guess I'm wondering, how big of a deal is this? Have there been any comparable cases in the world of pro sport like this before? You know, I don't know if there have been any comparable cases in pro sports. I would certainly say that there have been comparable cases of, you know, allegations of group sexual assault and gang rapes at the lower levels particularly you know in say junior hockey when the drummondville voltiger were on the ice in 2016

the quebec major junior hockey league says it had no idea what allegedly happened off the ice a woman who was 15 at the time says she was sexually assaulted by three males in 2016 in Drummondville, Quebec. Laura Robinson wrote a book many years ago called Crossing the Line in which she wrote about the prevalence of sexual violence and group sexual assault in junior hockey culture. sexual violence and group sexual assault in junior hockey culture. But I don't think we have seen anything analogous to these charges and this exact situation at the professional sports level. So it really is unprecedented terrain, I think, to see how this case will be tried, how these players will both, you know, fare in the legal proceedings and also

what the potential implications will be for their careers. I'm curious what folks in the world of hockey have been saying, like how they've been reacting. You know, I think for so long, this process has dragged on and it's been a bit confounding for people and confusing about you know why this has taken so long to get to this step you know not understanding perhaps that a criminal investigation is not dictated by an nhl schedule or you know nhl fans sort of curiosity or clamoring for information you know i, I think in a high-profile investigation, in a complex investigation where there are multiple suspects, multiple individuals charged with different legal counsel and sometimes overlapping and I'm sure sometimes competing

interests, you know, I don't think it should be unexpected that this is going to be a lengthy process and this will continue to be a lengthy process. But I think sort of the biggest takeaway I have from the impact in the hockey world is I think there's maybe some just like relief that there's a tangible step forward in this process. I think for so long it was feeling like there was never going to be any resolution or any clarity. And I still think we're a long way from resolution and clarity, but I think seeing that there's one tangible step forward into this process moving along is seen largely as a positive step for getting closer to what happened. And I guess I'm curious also about the official response. What have the NHL and the players' teams said about these charges?

Really nothing. I mean, the league has been very opaque about its own investigation into the matter and how that has or has not intersected with any of the other investigations, whether that be Hockey Canada's investigation or the London Police probe. And they have not made any comment since those charges have been made public. Whether that changes once London Police hold their press conference, I'm not sure. But they haven't said anything yet, And Hockey Canada has been similarly mum. So what's happened to these five players?

They're not playing right now, right? They are not. All five players have taken indefinite leaves of absence. And all five of those players have contracts that expire at the end of this season. Okay. So now in terms of the criminal charges, none of this has been tested in court. As I mentioned, these guys are innocent until proven guilty, which I think is important to point out. But is that true for the NHL? I mean, it's hard to know what sort of evidence they may have in their possession. But the NHL certainly has the capacity to assess discipline even absent a criminal conviction. Okay, so we've been talking about the criminal investigation trial that'll happen, but Hockey Canada and the NHL have both done their own investigations into this incident in 2018.

Have either of them released those investigations or taken any action as a result of them? My understanding is that both of those investigations are complete. My understanding is that Hockey Canada has found some violation of its code of conduct. It is not clear what sort of wrongdoing was found. It is still a process that is being appealed right now. And that's about all we know from Hockey Canada's aspect that they have conducted their investigation. They have found some level of wrongdoing and players have appealed. connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix.

I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income? That's not a typo, 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Cups. So I think when this case was in the media back in 2022,

it was characterized as, you know, sort of a long-due reckoning for Hockey Canada on issues of sexual violence. It may be the boardroom equivalent of pulling the goalie. Hockey Canada's CEO resigning as a last-ditch effort to save the organization's reputation. So will the entire board of directors. Hockey Canada says it recognizes the urgent need for new leadership. Do you think that reckoning's happened? Like has the organization made any sort of meaningful changes? You know Hockey Canada has overhauled its leadership. It has installed a new board of directors. There is a new CEO. You know, there are new initiatives and such. They're certainly under more, you know, I think, regulatory scrutiny in terms of, you know, they've been hauled in front of Parliament, their, you know,

oversight bodies that I think have, you know, more ability to monitor, you know, how they're handling these things, because they clearly, you know, acknowledge that they did not handle this well. But whether there has been real meaningful change, I think is really difficult to assess at this point, because I think meaningful change doesn't happen quickly. And I think there's generational issues probably entrenched culturally within the sport, and I'm sure culturally within the sport and I'm sure culturally within the organization. And so I think it's really hard to expect that those will be eradicated or dismantled with one case or in one or two years. I think there are much larger issues to address. And I think, you know, change is probably going to come at a more generational level than a matter of year to year. Let's talk about that broader culture, right? So there are, you know, I think reasonable worries that some elements or some aspects of hockey culture can be toxic, can be misogynistic.

or some aspects of hockey culture can be toxic, can be misogynistic. And I think, you know, some folks have characterized this set of allegations as the tip of the iceberg, really. So I guess, you know, when you talk about this is a generational change, presumably that's incumbent on the younger players to kind of be the seed of that change. So are you seeing that? to kind of be the seed of that change. So are you seeing that? I don't really have a sense if I'm being honest. Um, I certainly think young people have different attitudes toward what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Um, and I, I, I'm always heartened by people's attitudes of, you know, trying to speak up when they see a wrongdoing and you know I sort of the idea that a healthy atmosphere is governed by healthy boundaries and transgressing those boundaries is not acceptable but again like I, I think there are so many things that are culturally and deeply entrenched in

hockey that I just don't know if I, I'm seeing the true seeds of that yet. Are you hopeful? Oh man, I'm, I'm, I'm certainly hopeful that this could spark change. You know, I would love, I think the fact that we're seeing so much attention brought to this issue is a positive thing.. And the fact that people care about this is a reason for hope. Yes. So I'm hopeful. Katie, thanks so much. I really appreciate it. Of course. Thanks for having me.

All right, that's all for today. Front Burner was produced this week by Rafferty Baker, Shannon Higgins, Joyta Shingupta, Matt Mews, Dennis Kalnan, and Derek Vanderwyk. Sound design was by Mackenzie Cameron and Sam McNulty. Music is by Joseph Shabison. Our senior producer is Elaine Chao. Our executive producer is Nick McCabe-Locos. I'm Damon Fairless.

Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you on Monday.