(WARNING: Article is NSFW, descriptions of sexual assault)
Since it’s May, we will be going down to two News Roundups a month. European hockey is finishing off and North American hockey is in the middle of the playoffs. So, there’s just less and less to report on. The first and third Monday of May, June, and July will have News Roundup articles. In August, there will only be one News Roundup, on the third Monday. Then, from August 25 - September 7, I will be on my annual two-week break from writing. When I come back, News Roundup will resume weekly.
2018 WJC Team Canada Trial
The second trial of the five players from the 2018 Team Canada World Junior Championship who are accused of sexual assault began last week. The new trial, which occurred after a mistrial was declared the week before, began Monday with the jury seeing evidence. They saw security footage from Jack’s Bar in London, Ontario. The accuser, who is only known as E.M. publicly, had eight alcoholic drinks that night. Around 1:20 in the morning, she and Michael McLeod went off to have consensual sex. After they finished, according to assistant Crown attorney Heather Donkers, McLeod got onto his phone and posted in a group chat: “who wants to be in a 3 way quick. 209- mikey”. Then, he went out of the room to invite others in, while E.M. was still naked underneath the bed covers. E.M. claims that she was surprised by all this at the moment and didn’t know how to react. She claimed that she was uncomfortable at the moment and went along because she was scared about what would happen if she didn’t. After they were all in the room, McLeod, Carter Hart, and Dillon Dube allegedly had non-consensual oral sex with her. Dube also allegedly slapped E.M.’s naked buttocks while she was having sex with someone else. Alex Formenton allegedly had sex with her in the bathroom and “did the splits over [E.M.]’s face while she lay on the ground, grazing his genitals over her face.”
McLeod made some videos from his phone, and the first was filmed at 3:25 a.m. and some guy off-camera asked E.M., “You’re okay with this, right? You’re okay with this?” and she responded, “Yeah, I’m okay.” An hour later, McLeod made another video, where E.M. said, “This was all consensual. I enjoyed it. Are you filming this? You are so paranoid. I’m so sober — that’s why I can’t do this right now." Twenty minutes later, she left the hotel. She would arrive home at 5:08 in the morning according to an Uber receipt.
Taylor Raddysh, forward for the Washington Capitals, testified remotely in the trial. He had a room right next to McLeod’s and was invited to go into McLeod’s room by McLeod himself and Boris Katchouk. He did go into the room but claimed to remember very little. He was only in the room for a few minutes. Around 2:15, after Raddysh had already returned to his room, McLeod sent him a message, saying, “Come to my room if u want a gummer.” “Gummer” is a term for oral sex.
Katchouk, the other person who invited Raddysh into the room, also testified. He said that he returned to the hotel at 2:23 a.m. with some pizza along with Callan Foote. When they reached the second floor, they found McLeod standing in the hallway and McLeod invited them into his room. Katchouk saw E.M. lying on the bed, covered by sheets. Then, McLeod allegedly asked Katchouk if he wanted oral sex. Katchouk claims he just laughed it off. McLeod left the room again and then came back with Raddysh. After a few minutes, Raddysh recommended to Katchouk that they both leave the room and they did, together.
Last Friday, we finally heard E.M. speak. She was going out to party with some friends after getting a new job, and before heading out two cans of Mike’s Hard Lemonade. At the bar, she met McLeod and his teammates and witnessed them drinking alcohol. According to her, they drank:
A vodka soda
A beer
Eight shots
A mixture of Jägermeister and an energy drink
She said that she and McLeod had shots and danced together. As the night went on, she claimed to have started to feel a bit uncomfortable as his teammates started dancing with her and touching her inappropriately. She got more drunk as the night went on and said that her vision got blurry. She also went on to say, “Mentally, I just felt all over the place… Outwardly, it appeared that I was okay with it, but internally I felt it was odd and not something I would normally be doing at a bar.”
IIHF Tournaments
We’ll start with the U18 Men’s World Championship. In last week’s edition, the tournament was ongoing, still in preliminary play. Now, it’s over and Canada repeated as gold medal winners. To do so, they beat Sweden, 7-0. In the bronze medal game, it was the USA who earned the medal, defeating Slovakia, 4-3, in overtime. In personal achievements, Filip Ekberg of Sweden was named MVP.
Now, many of the adult Men’s World Championship tournaments were played this past week. Starting in Division 1 - Group A, Great Britain earned gold while Italy got silver and the bronze went to Ukraine. In Division 1 - Group B, Lithuania got gold, Korea got silver, and Estonia got bronze. Down in Division 2 - Group A, the tournament is still ongoing. As of publication, today is the last day of the tournament. The Netherlands and Serbia will be fighting each other for gold, today. Meanwhile, Israel and Australia will be playing against each other to decide who will be relegated. Speaking of relegation, the group the loser will be playing in, Division 2 - Group B, has a gold medal champion: Georgia. Iceland got the silver medal while the bronze was won by New Zealand. Moving on to Division 3 - Group A, Kyrgyzstan got gold, Turkmenistan got silver, and Turkey got gold. Finally, in Division 3 - Group B, Mexico got gold, North Korea got silver, and Hong Kong, China got bronze.
North American Pro Leagues Expand
Two North American professional leagues announced expansion teams this past week: the ECHL and PWHL.
Starting with the ECHL, New Mexico will be getting a team. They will play at the Rio Rancho Events Center, which is about 30 miles away from Albuquerque. It has been the home of hockey teams before: the Central Hockey League’s New Mexico Scorpions (2006-09) and the North American Hockey League’s New Mexico Mustangs (2010-12). Fans can help choose a name right now by going to this website. The team will begin play in the 2026-27 season.
Over in the PWHL, Seattle will be getting a team. They will be playing out of the Climate Pledge Arena, the home of the Seattle Kraken. No name has been announced, yet, but their colors will be Emerald Green (primary) and Cream (secondary).
In the NHL, Calgary Flames forward Matt Coronato signed a 7-year contract extension worth $6.5 million a year…Mike Sullivan was announced as the new head coach of the New York Rangers…Florida Panthers defender Aaron Ekblad was suspended for two games due to elbowing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel…Rick Tocchet will no longer be serving as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks…Over in the PWHL, after missing the playoffs last season, the Ottawa Charge made the playoffs this season…Speaking of playoffs, as the top seed, the Montréal Victoire got to choose their opponent and they selected the Ottawa Charge. The series begins Thursday, May 8, at 7 p.m. EDT…The other playoff series is Toronto Sceptres vs. Minnesota Frost and that series begins Wednesday, May 7, at 7 p.m. EDT…Boston Fleet forward Hilary Knight and New York Sirens rookie forward Sarah Fillier tied for the Points Leader Award (29 points)…Montréal Victoire forward Marie-Philip Poulin won the Top Goal Scorer Award (19 goals).
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