LONDON – Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar and St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas, who attended the All-Star Game in Toronto in recent days, were reluctant to comment on the scandal involving their teammates from the 2018 edition Canadian junior team.
“I have cooperated with the investigation and that is all I will offer as a comment,” Thomas said.
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“I was told not to comment while the investigation was ongoing, but I knew from the beginning that I was not there,” Makar reiterated.
The Avalanche defender specified that he wanted to let the people who were processing the file, incidentally the London police, work.
In a hotel room
In fact, on June 18, 2018, eight men – and not five – were said to have committed gang rape in a hotel room in central London, according to documents presented by the public prosecutor. The alleged incidents occurred after a gala organized by Hockey Canada at which ÉCJ skaters were in attendance.
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To recall the sequence of events, we understand that financial compensation was subsequently paid to the victim through a Hockey Canada reserve fund. London police first dismissed the case in February 2019 without pressing charges, but reopened the investigation three years later. The National Hockey League also launched an internal investigation in May 2022, but the report is still awaited.
Away from the NHL
Commissioner Gary Bettman recalled during an All-Star Game press conference that the four accused NHL players (Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote and Michael McLeod) were each granted leave from their team. And they are all free agents [avec compensation] at the end of this season.
“I would be surprised if they came back to play [pendant les procédures judiciaires]“, started the commissioner and asked the athletes and those around them to concentrate on their defense.