"Spit on her. Ejaculated on her. Assaulted her" - NHL insider labels Hockey Canada scandal hockey's "ultimate reckoning"

Hockey Canada was examining the alleged sexual assault allegations of members of the 2018 World Juniors gold medal team. On Wednesday, The Globe and Mail reported five players from the team were asked to surrender to police in London, Ont., to face charges.

The London Police felt it had reasonable grounds to bring in the players for sexually assaulting the unidentified woman. Thus, they will be presented before the court to appeal or plead guilty to their charges.

NHL reporter Mark Lazerus called the Hockey Canada scandal hockey's ultimate reckoning.:

These men allegedly slapped her. Spit on her. Ejaculated on her. Assaulted her. Brought golf clubs into the room, which just further intimidated her."

"Then filmed her giving her drunken consent after the fact. Will those abhorrent allegations turn our stomachs even more when we know their names? Do they feel more real and more tangible now that we know at least some of them have become rich and famous and admired and feted and lionized as idols for young children?"

"This is hockey’s ultimate reckoning, a scandal that rocks the very foundations of the sport.

After years of investigation, the London Police Department called for a press conference on Feb. 5, where they could reveal the names of the accused.

In his latest article, Lazerus writes:

"It’s hardly hockey’s first such scandal — there have been countless hazing incidents at the junior level, the grooming of Theo Fleury by Graham James, the alleged sexual assault of Kyle Beach and the Blackhawks’ subsequent cover-up, and more."

"A sport that loves nothing more than to revel in its glorious history has closets full of skeletons in its past. We just plug our ears and cover our eyes and say it would never happen here, not on my team, not by my favorite players."

Although the players have yet to be proven guilty in court, the allegations destroyed the image of the sport and Hockey Canada.

Timeline of Hockey Canada scandal

On June 18, 2019, Hockey Canada had a gala in London, Ontario. However, the next day, a man informed Hockey Canada that his stepdaughter alleged she was sexually assaulted by eight players at the gala. According to the accuser, the members of the world junior team were also involved, and everyone was intoxicated.

The following February, London Police revealed the criminal investigation was closed. Hockey Canada claimed the victim declined to speak with authorities or investigators.

In May of 2022, the investigation was re-opened, and Hockey Canada and the woman settled outside of court for an undisclosed amount.

In July, the following players denied any involvement in the matter: St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas, Jake Bean, Kale Clague, Max Comtois, Dillon Dube, Dante Fabbro, Cal Foote, Jonah Gadjovich, Carter Hart, Brett Howden, Cale Makar, Colton Point, Taylor Raddysh, Sam Steel, Tyler Steenbergen and Conor Timmins.

After the initial closing of the investigation, Hockey Canada was criticized by Canada's political figures, sponsors and fans.

Canada’s minister of sport, Pascale St-Onge, announced that federal funding for the organization was frozen. It would only resume once the organization signed on with the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner and provided detailed plans on implementing change to prohibit actions like those that allegedly happened in 2018 from occurring again.

Corporate sponsors of Hockey Canada, such as Scotiabank, TELUS, Canadian Tire, Tim Hortons and Imperial Oil (Esso), paused sponsorships planned out for the World Juniors until change occurred with the organization. As a result, Hockey Canada signed onto OSIC and re-opened its investigation in July.