An independent appeal board has confirmed that five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team breached Hockey Canada’s code of conduct and recommended staggered suspensions that will keep Michael McLeod out of Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs until November 2030.
Hockey Canada announced Wednesday that Alex Formenton has been reinstated immediately, while Cal Foote remains suspended until Nov. 10, 2026. Carter Hart is suspended until Nov. 10, 2027, Dillon Dubé until Nov. 10, 2028, and McLeod until Nov. 10, 2030.
The organization said the reinstatement dates were recommended by the three-member appeal board and accepted by Hockey Canada. The board was composed of John I. Laskin, a former justice of the Court of Appeal for Ontario; and Katherine E. Swinton and Thomas J. McEwen. Both Swinton and McEwen are former judges with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
The ruling concludes a Hockey Canada disciplinary process that began in 2018 and continued separately from the criminal case in London in which all five players were acquitted last year of sexual-assault charges.
Hockey Canada did not release the appeal board’s reasons, nor did it identify which provisions of its code the players breached or disclose the conduct attributed to each player. It also did not explain why the suspensions vary from immediate reinstatement for Formenton, to more than four additional years for McLeod.
The organization said the case was handled under its former investigation and adjudication procedures, which require investigative and adjudicative documents to be kept confidential.
The decision does not affect the players’ criminal acquittals. On July 24, 2025, Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia found McLeod, Formenton, Dubé, Hart and Foote not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman identified in court as E.M. at a London hotel in June 2018. McLeod was also acquitted of a second charge of being a party to an offence.
The players, who were in London in June 2018 for a Hockey Canada gala celebrating their world junior championship when the alleged sexual assault took place, had pleaded not guilty.
The allegations became public in May 2022, when TSN reported that Hockey Canada had quietly settled a civil lawsuit filed by E.M. against the organization, the Canadian Hockey League and eight unnamed players. The disclosure prompted parliamentary hearings, sponsor withdrawals and sweeping leadership changes at Hockey Canada.
After an eight-week trial, which included two mistrials and a shift from a trial by jury to a trial by judge alone because of incidents involving several defence lawyers, Carroccia said she did not find E.M.’s evidence credible or reliable and concluded the Crown had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the sexual activity at issue occurred without her consent.
The Hockey Canada proceeding applied the organization’s own code of conduct and was distinct from the criminal prosecution.
A person familiar with the matter told TSN that Hockey Canada’s investigation process considered material that was not admitted as evidence at the criminal trial. That included a June 2018 text between Brett Howden and Taylor Raddysh, both members of the 2018 World Junior team who were not accused of any criminal wrongdoing.
In the days after the June 2018 incident, when it was clear that at least Hockey Canada was investigating, Howden wrote in a text message to Raddysh that Dubé had been slapping E.M.’s buttocks so hard that “it looked like it hurt so bad.” Carroccia excluded that message from the trial, ruling that Howden could not vouch for its accuracy.
Hockey Canada investigators also considered the full contents of a text exchange between a number of players after they learned of an investigation.
At one point, McLeod wrote to the group: “What should I say if they ask why I took the videos tho”
Maxime Comtois responded: “Police is not involved in it just erase them. All the bad video.”
McLeod wrote: “No no. This video is her saying she consented.”
Comtois replied: “Keep the consent one.”
That text exchange was redacted and never read into the court record because police could not prove there was “bad video,” a person familiar with the matter told TSN.
The five accused players have all returned or made attempts to return to pro hockey.
Hart signed a two-year contract with the Vegas Golden Knights, while Dubé signed a one-year NHL contract with the St. Louis Blues in July. Foote played last season with the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves and later signed with Färjestad BK in Sweden, but the club cancelled the contract two days later following backlash from supporters and sponsors. McLeod is under contract with Avangard Omsk of the Russia-based KHL, while Formenton played last season with HC Ambrì-Piotta in Switzerland.
Hockey Canada said the appeal decision closes the matter. The organization added that complaints involving national-team members are now handled through the Canadian Safe Sport program, after Hockey Canada became a full signatory to Abuse-Free Sport in 2022 and transitioned to the new system in 2025.
