Four Canadian Hockey Players Retain Suspensions Following Acquittal in Sexual Assault Case

Four Canadian ice hockey professionals remain suspended from their respective clubs and national team duties, even after being acquitted of sexual assault charges in London, Ontario. Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, and Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames are all subject to ongoing suspensions.

A fifth player implicated in the same case, Alex Formenton, previously with the Ottawa Senators and most recently playing in Switzerland, has had his suspension lifted. Formenton, along with the other four, was acquitted of sexual assault charges related to an alleged incident in June 2018.

Despite the acquittals, an independent appeals board convened by Hockey Canada concluded that all five players had breached the organisation's code of conduct. This decision underscores the differing standards of proof between the criminal justice system and internal sporting disciplinary processes. The specific details of the code of conduct violations have not been publicly detailed by Hockey Canada, maintaining a lack of transparency around the internal disciplinary mechanisms.