Breaking: 4 NHL Players Named, Directed To Surrender to London Police

Although this day has been expected for the past week or so, it's now been confirmed: Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart, New Jersey Devils center Michael McLeod and defenseman Cal Foote, and Calgary Flames forward Dillon Dube have been told to surrender to London, Ont., police to face sexual assault charges.

Four NHLers – Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube & Cal Foote – have been directed to surrender to London police to be charged with sexual assault in connection with an alleged incident that occurred during a 2018 Hockey Canada event.

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All four players were teammates on the 2018 Team Canada world juniors team, and the alleged incident took place at a Hockey Canada event that year.  All of the players had requested and were granted leaves of absence over the last week or so from their NHL teams.

Another member of that world juniors team, Alex Formenton, a former Ottawa Senator who'd been playing in Switzerland, turned himself in over the weekend. His legal team said, "Alex will vigorously defend his innocence and asks that people not rush to judgment without hearing all of the evidence.” Lawyers for McLeod and Dube today have also said that their clients will plead not guilty.

A lawsuit was filed by a woman in the spring of 2022, alleging that eight players including members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team sexually assaulted her in a hotel room following a team event in London in June of 2018. At the time of that lawsuit, Hart’s attorney Scott Fenton told the Toronto Star that his client did not engage in the 2018 alleged incident.

London Police are expected to hold a media availability on Feb. 5 to provide further updates and details. 

Photo: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports