Hockey Canada: 2018 junior players ineligible for international competition

OTTAWA-

Hockey Canada says players from the 2018 World Junior Hockey Team will not be considered for international competition until an investigation into an alleged sexual assault involving team members is complete.

In a statement obtained Monday evening by The Canadian Press, Hockey Canada said the decision was made earlier this year and that the team’s players will not be considered until “the investigation and process of arbitration of the alleged 2018 incident will not be completed”.

Hockey Canada says the decision has been communicated to the management group for the upcoming World Hockey Championships scheduled for May 12-28 in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia.

The statement comes hours after a parliamentary committee unanimously passed a motion ordering Hockey Canada to deliver an investigation report into the 2018 allegations.

Heinen Hutchison Robitaille LLP has been retained by Hockey Canada to conduct an independent investigation.

The motion, tabled by Tory MP Kevin Waugh to open a Heritage Committee meeting on safe sport, ordered Hockey Canada to provide the full report from the law firm within 24 hours.

“I heard that Henein Hutchinson had submitted the report to Hockey Canada and I hope to have it here in the very near future to review it,” Waugh said.

The motion passed with an amendment from Liberal MP Chris Bittle that the report be redacted for confidentiality purposes before submission.

Waugh later told The Canadian Press that the report should also be translated into French.

“A letter will be sent to Hockey Canada today,” Waugh said.

“I hope they give us Henein Hutchinson’s report and then we can get it translated.”

News broke in May that members of the 2018 World Junior Team had been charged with gang sexual assault after a Hockey Canada gala in London, Ont.

As part of the fallout, an independent investigation into HHR’s (then Henein Hutchison) allegations ordered by Hockey Canada has been reopened.

Partner Danielle Robitaille told a heritage committee hearing into the scandal in July that the investigation was initially closed in 2018 because the complainant failed to provide a statement.

Robitaille said he contacted Hockey Canada and requested a warrant to reopen the investigation after learning that the complainant planned to participate.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on March 27, 2023.