On Thursday, over seven years after the initial police investigation into an alleged sexual assault involving members of Canada\u2019s 2018 World Junior hockey team in London, Ontario, was opened, a resolution is finally coming.<\/p>\n
Justice Maria Carroccia is expected to deliver her verdicts in the case<\/a> at 10 a.m. on Thursday, the culmination of an eight-week trial that began on April 22 and concluded on June 14. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Hayes: The Flyers have a real goalie tandem again after free agency, as the Carter Hart door closes<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Five professional hockey players, including former Flyers goalie Carter Hart<\/a>, are accused of sexually assaulting a woman<\/a> following a Hockey Canada banquet in June 2018. The woman alleges that after having consensual sex with Michael McLeod, whom she met earlier that night at a local bar, she was sexually assaulted by McLeod and several of his teammates in his hotel room over a period of hours.<\/p>\n Hart, Dillon Dub\u00e9, Cal Foote, and Alex Formenton were each charged in February 2024 with one count of sexual assault, while McLeod is charged with sexual assault and faces an additional charge for being \u201cparty to the offence,\u201d or aiding a sexual assault. All five players have pleaded not guilty. <\/p>\n Any of the players found guilty would then await sentencing. After sentencing, they would then have 30 days to file appeals of their convictions. The maximum prison sentence for sexual assault in Canada is 10 years.<\/p>\n The Crown (plaintiff) also has a right to appeal within 30 days<\/a> of the judge\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n The five men were not named publicly until they were charged last year after \u201cadditional evidence<\/a>\u201d had come to light, according to London police. The charges were handed down days after Hart, Dub\u00e9, Foote, and McLeod had taken leaves of absence from their respective NHL teams. Hart cited \u201cpersonal reasons\u201d in the Flyers\u2019 official release<\/a> on Jan. 23, 2024. <\/p>\n London police opened up an investigation in the days after the alleged 2018 assault and closed it in February 2019. Hockey Canada also opened its own investigation, hiring a third-party firm in 2018. That investigation was closed in September 2020.<\/p>\n In April 2022, the woman filed a statement of claim seeking $3.55 million in damages from Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League, and eight unnamed players from the 2018 gold-medal winning Canadian World Junior team. Hockey Canada settled the lawsuit out of court a month later for an undisclosed amount of money.<\/p>\n Following public backlash<\/a> relating to Hockey Canada and the revelation that the organization had a secret slush fund \u2014 made up of money from youth hockey registration fees \u2014 that it used to pay off sexual assault claims, London police conducted an internal review and reopened its investigation in July of 2022. Hockey Canada also resumed its investigation that same month.<\/p>\n The NHL conducted a year-long investigation in 2022, with commissioner Gary Bettman stating last Februar<\/a>y that the league would not release its findings until after the legal case was resolved.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a serious judicial process that looks like it\u2019s unfolding,\u201d said Bettman. \u201cAnd we didn\u2019t, while we\u2019re doing our investigation, want to interfere with what the London Police Service was doing. And we\u2019re not going to do anything to interfere or influence the judicial proceedings. We\u2019re all going to have to see how that plays out, and as I said in my remarks, we will then be in a position to respond appropriately, which we will do.\u201d<\/p>\n At his annual media availability before the Stanley Cup Final in June<\/a>, Bettman reiterated that he will not comment further until the process is fully resolved.<\/p>\n None of the players charged are currently under contract with an NHL team, and it remains to be seen whether the NHL will dole out subsequent punishments or suspensions, even if the players are found not guilty. <\/p>\n Hart, who turns 27 next month, last appeared in a game for the Flyers on Jan. 20, 2024, and his contract with the team expired that June. He posted a 96-93-29 career record in 227 games with the Flyers after being selected in the second round of the 2016 NHL draft.<\/p>\n The trial, which began on April 22, featured several twists and turns, with Carroccia declaring a mistrial <\/a>on April 25 for what would later be revealed as a prohibited interaction between a defense lawyer and a juror during a lunch break. <\/p>\n On April 28, the trial resumed with a new jury, but that jury was dismissed on May 16<\/a> after a jury member informed Carroccia that some jurors felt \u201cjudged\u201d and \u201cmade fun of\u201d by two of the defense lawyers. After receiving this news, Carroccia converted the trial from a jury trial to a judge-only trial to avoid a second mistrial.<\/p>\n Hart was the only one of the five players to testify in his own defense and took the stand on May 29.<\/p>\n