Former NHL Players Face Sexual Assault Charges

Three of the five former NHL players accused of sexual assault related to an incident on Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team appeared in a London courtroom for pretrial hearings. Dillon Dubé, Michael McLeod, and Alex Formenton attended proceedings that will span three weeks, during which evidence presentation will be decided. All five players face a single charge of sexual assault, with McLeod also charged as a party to the offense. They are expected to plead not guilty when the trial begins in April 2024, and a publication ban currently restricts details about the case. The police investigation initially closed in 2019 but was reopened in 2022, with London’s police chief apologizing for the delay in charges. The players have since continued their professional careers in hockey, with some signing contracts in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).