SIMMONS: With charges pending, NHL still silent on Hockey Canada sex assault case
Hockey Canada #HockeyCanada
The NHL removed its collective head from the sand for just a moment Wednesday morning and made two announcements of significance.
It announced that, one, they welcome Salt Lake City’s interest in having an NHL team in the future and, two, that Tate McRae will be playing music between periods at the upcoming NHL All-Star Game in Toronto.
And oh yeah, as usual they won’t be commenting for the time being on the Team Canada 2018 sexual assault investigation with The Globe and Mail reporting that charges are pending for five players, four of them possibly on current NHL rosters, having taken leaves of absence from their clubs in recent days as the stench around the hockey scandal that won’t go away continues on.
Police in London, Ont., who have already embarrassed themselves by looking the other way from Day 1 in this investigation, having done the hockey player thing here and taken years before reportedly finally ordering the five players, still publicly unidentified, to turn themselves in to local police.
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It is at their leisure, of course. We wouldn’t want to inconvenience anybody here. Imagine if the real world worked this way: You are accused of a crime allegedly committed six years ago and you turn yourself in once they catch you, at your convenience, whenever.
This is hockey player justice in a hockey player country in a hockey player town.
Justice delayed is usually justice denied and the delays in this case have already been far too long.
The truth: There have been problems at every level of this despicable affair.
The police preferred to look the other way going all the way back to the alleged gang rape of 2018. Hockey Canada thought that writing a cheque was the best way to get out of this mess. The NHL and, by extension, the NHL Players’ Association have covered their ears and eyes throughout, seeing no evil, hearing no evil and saying next to nothing at all.
The alleged assailants, in this case, have been protected and well paid for years.
The alleged victim, which is all too typical of sexual assault cases, has not been protected at all.
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The Toronto Sun has not independently verified The Globe’s report nor has it been confirmed that the leaves taken by the players are related to the sexual assault investigation. But given the timing, it would seem many would conclude that the two are related and the players are Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils and Swiss league player and former Ottawa Senator Alex Formenton, all of whom have taken a leave from their team in recent days.
Postmedia contacted the players’ agents for a comment, but had not received a reply as of Wednesday at 8:45 p.m.
If The Globe report is accurate and five players are to face charges, then those players have been uncomfortably waiting for a shoe to drop as the pressure on the investigation had heightened. They pretty much knew that charges of some kind would be coming. They just didn’t know when or what or how. Or what happens after that.
This isn’t anything close to closure for the alleged victim, although some broadcasters and experts were making that assumption yesterday. If they, or anyone else, had any real knowledge of sexual assault, they would understand that if the allegations are true, then closure may never happen no matter what happens in court, no matter whether any of this goes to court, no matter whether players are found guilty, lose their careers or wind up doing prison time.
Closure is personal and individual and challenging and many never stop living with the damage and nightmare that sexual assault can bring.
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This is neither the beginning of the story nor the end. It’s taken six years to get to a point where there will reportedly be charges of any kind involved. Who knows how long, with The Globe reporting five players likely being charged, it will take before this ever proceeds to court? Assuming it ever gets to court.
This is the latest and most important step in a process that been mostly walked by those tripping over themselves. The NHL will say something and do something if charges are brought and they can longer hide behind the rhetoric of claiming this is an ongoing legal process.
The alleged assault happened before any of these men played in the NHL, the five involved being members of junior Team Canada, a historical feeder team to the professional ranks. Since 2018, Hart has played six seasons in goal in Philadelphia; Dube has played five years for the Flames; Foote has played parts of five seasons with three different NHL teams; McLeod has played five seasons for the Devils; and Formenton played parts of two seasons in Ottawa before leaving for Switzerland two seasons back. Foote is the son of former NHL stalwart Adam Foote.
The five players have played without any hint of suspension or interruption to their careers. That will end if they are among those asked to turn themselves in, if charges become official. If that day happens.
If the London police finally get around to doing their jobs.
ssimmons@postmedia.com
X: @simmonssteve
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