Connor McDavid opens up on Hockey Canada’s scandal-filled summer

While Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid is focused on the upcoming season, there had to be some distractions ahead of training camp.

On Thursday, Joshua Clipperton of the Canadian Press asked McDavid, who was speaking at the NHL/NHLPA media tour today outside Vegas, about Hockey Canada’s scandal-filled summer.

The organization, of course, is still reeling from sexual assault allegations against member’s of its 2003 World Junior team and 2018 World Junior team. It was revealed back in May that Hockey Canada settled a lawsuit with an unnamed woman after she alleged that she was sexually assaulted by eight members of the 2018 World Juniors roster in London, Ontario and that officials within Hockey Canada helped cover up the scandal. So far none of the players from that team have been identified as the ones being implicated.

Once this news came to light, another woman came forward with allegations that she was “gang raped” by members of the 2003 World Junior team in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Hockey Canada is under fire and fans and reporters are looking for answers and for changes. When asked about the allegations, McDavid answered:

“I’m very proud to be Canadian, very proud to represent Hockey Canada … obviously a situation that is terrible for everybody.”

This is, obviously, a very politically correct answer, and no one expected a whole lot more from McDavid.
However, we cannot blame the guy: he wasn’t on the roster of the teams involved in the ongoing allegations and cannot comment on those specific incidents.

McDavid is not the most camera friendly and socially comfortable player out there so it’s already pretty impressive that he managed to say something that isn’t totally horrible.

But let’s hope that when he said “a situation that is terrible for everybody” he most specifically meant it about the victims.

Other star players comment

Other players like Colorado Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar were also asked about the news and ongoing saga.

"It's sad," said MacKinnon, who won the Stanley Cup with his Avs in June. "There's no place for that.

"I don't know all the investigation stuff, but whatever happened wasn't OK — that's the main thing."

Makar was a member of the 2018 world junior team, but previously stated he wasn't involved in the alleged incident. He spoke with investigators in its immediate aftermath, and will do so again to help get to the bottom of this.

"I'm completely open-book," Makar said. "I'll be ready for whatever. Whatever they need, basically, I'll be there."