Reputational risks: why the NHL became interested in the case against the former players of the Canadian U20 team

At the end of May, it might have seemed that the lawsuit against eight Canadian hockey players was over.

As TSN reported, Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) reached a settlement with a woman who accused athletes of harassment and sexual assault in 2018.

However, the NHL suddenly became interested in the incident.

The leadership of the league announced its intention to conduct its own investigation, and based on its results, decide what to do with the players if their involvement is confirmed.

At the end of the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made an official statement.

He promised that the investigation would be as transparent as possible and stressed the league's intention to publish its results in the near future.

“I believe so (the NHL will present the results of the investigation. -

) ... Unless it turns out that the only access we have to certain information will prevent this,” Bettman said.

According to the commissioner, the league did not know anything about the allegations against Canadian hockey players until the moment the case was taken to court.

“As part of the ongoing investigation, we are dealing with allegations by an anonymous party against eight anonymous parties.

This is not an easy situation.

But until now, we didn't know anything about it," Bettman added.

The lawsuit against hockey players became known in April.

Then the court of the city of London in Ontario received an appeal from a woman who accused eight Canadian players of sexual violence.

Moreover, among the potential suspects were representatives of the youth team of the country, which played at the 2018 World Cup in Buffalo.

At that tournament, Dominique Ducharme's wards won gold medals, defeating the Swedes in the final.

At the same time, the roster included many current NHL stars, including the 2022 Stanley Cup finalist in the Colorado Cale Makar, Vladimir Tarasenko's partners in St. Louis - Robert Thomas and Jordan Kaira, as well as future competitor Ivan Fedotov for a place in the gate Philadelphia - Carter Hart.

According to the victim, the incident occurred on June 19, 2018 in London, Canada, where the victors of the planet's youth championship were honored.

In one of the bars of the city, she met hockey players, after which she went with one of them to a hotel.

By this time, the plaintiff was already in a state of intoxication, and then her condition only worsened.

In the room, the girl entered into an intimate relationship with the athlete, after which, according to her, he invited the others to join.

At that point, the woman was too drunk to give "proper consent" to this, the statement said.

As a result, she was harassed and sexually assaulted by eight hockey players, which she vividly described in her statement of claim.

It is noted that after the incident, she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and at times she was visited by thoughts of suicide.

The plaintiff also claimed that the incident prevented her from getting a higher education and provoked problems in her personal life.

The woman sued Hockey Canada and the CHL, demanding compensation of $3.55 million from them. However, on May 28, it was reported that the investigation against the federation and the league was closed after the parties managed to reach a settlement with the plaintiff.

However, the Minister of Sports of the country, Pascal Saint-Onge, became interested in this case, suspecting Hockey Canada of using public funds to settle the lawsuit.

“The Canadian Ice Hockey Federation welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Canadian Legacy Standing Committee.

We take the allegations very seriously... and respect the desire of the girl who made this incident public to remain anonymous, and encourage others to respect her wishes as well.

We look forward to discussing with the Committee Hockey Canada’s current approach with regards to commitment to maintaining safety and integrity in youth sports… In the meantime, we can state with certainty that no public funds were involved in the recent settlement of the lawsuit,” Hockey said. Canada.

However, it is unlikely that the NHL decided to look into this case due to suspicions that Hockey Canada was spending public funds.

The reason, most likely, is that she does not want to spoil her reputation, because many players from that convocation of the Canadian youth team now play in the league.

In particular, Makar has already been questioned by journalists about his involvement in the incident.

According to Colorado's leading scorer in the current playoffs, he was not one of the eight suspects and knows little about what happened.

“I don’t know how much I can say about this, because the investigation, as far as I understand, is still ongoing, but I received an email and, obviously, I will be cooperating intensively with the investigation,” the lawyer assured.

In the same vein, agent Jason Harshaw, who represents the interests of St. Louis striker Jonah Gadzhovich, spoke out.

As the representative of the hockey player noted, his client is not related to the charges and cannot comment on the case.

“This story describes serious and reprehensible events.

John was not involved in what happened, and he does not have any comments about the lawsuit and settlement involving other parties, ”Hairshaw is quoted as saying by SJHockeyNow.

But if Gadzhovich does not plan to give explanations to journalists, then he will still have to talk with representatives of the NHL.

League deputy commissioner Bill Daly said they plan to interview all players on Canada's 2018 gold-winning youth team.

And they are unlikely to have difficulties in this endeavor.

Of the 22 hockey players of that team, 20 play in the strongest championship on the planet. The only exceptions are goalkeeper Colton Point, representing the team of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Idaho Steelheads, as well as forward Tyler Steenbergen, who has been defending the colors of the Finnish TPS since 2021.