A woman who alleged that she was sexually assaulted by eight CHL members, including members of the 2017-18 World Junior Championship team that went on to win the gold medal, agreed to a settlement to drop a lawsuit against the players, the CHL, and Hockey Canada, according to TSN reporter Rick Westhead.
The official Hockey Canada statement;
“Hockey Canada is deeply troubled by the very serious allegations of sexual assault regarding members of the 2017-18 National Junior Hockey Team. As soon as Hockey Canada became aware of this matter in 2018, we contacted local police authorities to inform them. The same day, we also retained Henein Hutchison LLP, a firm with extensive experience in this area, to undertake a thorough independent internal investigation and make recommendations on areas for improvement which we have been implementing and will continue to pursue.
The person bringing the allegations forward chose not to speak with either police or with Hockey Canada’s independent investigator and also chose not to identify the players involved. This was her right and we fully respect her wishes.
We have settled this matter and as part of that settlement, we will not be commenting further.”
Later in the evening the NHL released its own statement;
“Two days ago, the National Hockey League was advised of a lawsuit involving sexual allegations filed against eight unnamed members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior hockey team. We were subsequently provided with the Statement of Claim, containing allegations of behavior that is both abhorrent and reprehensible. We will endeavor to determine the underlying facts and, to the extent this may involve players who are now in the NHL, we will determine what action, if any, would be appropriate. We will have no further comment at this time.”
TJHN will update this story as more facts are developed.
