On July 24th Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia acquitted the five former members of Canada’s 2018 World Juniors hockey team of sexual assault charges that were brought forward from an encounter with a woman in a hotel room during a Hockey Canada event seven years ago.
On the heels of the verdict, the NHL ruled Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote to be ineligible for reinstatement at this time.
Locally, Brockville Braves co-owner, Dustin Traylen says no one is coming out of this trail unscathed, and he doesn’t see a path forward for these players to return to the NHL.
Traylen remains critical of Hockey Canada not only after this verdict, but also because of a situation where at least four players with connections to the Braves were accused of sexual assault during the spring of 2024 while attending a party at Queen’s University in Kingston.
Traylen says he takes great offence to the two players in particular who were suspended by Hockey Canada for the majority of the Braves’ 2024-25 season, even though no criminal charges were brought against them.
Traylen adds that the team is still waiting for more from Hockey Canada before deciding what their next course of action will be.
When it comes to educating the players on sexual assault, Traylen says the Braves have an orientation day where they go through their codes of conduct, but adds that there needs to be more educational material provided by Hockey Canada and Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO).
Help is available for victims of sexual abuse and violence.
Leeds & Grenville Interval House – 613-342-8815, 9-1-1, and Victim Services of Leeds-Grenville (vslg.ca).
Story by Harper Cotie