New disturbing and heavy details emerges in Hockey Canada gang rape scandal

As the National Hockey League pursues its investigation into an alleged 2018 sexual assault involving eight former Canadian Hockey League players, Katie Strang, Dan Robson and Ian Mendes of the Athletic provided on Friday new details on what took place in the alleged sexual assault that featured eight members of the country’s 2018 world junior team, following a gala in London, Ontario.

In May, news broke that Hockey Canada quietly settled a lawsuit filed by a woman who made the allegations. On Friday, the Athletic put together a breakdown of what happened and the details are disturbing.

The woman who accused the former CHL players of assault has alleged she was heavily intoxicated before she returned to a player’s hotel room and engaged in consensual sex. She alleged that seven other players then entered the room, and she was assaulted for hours.

However, the night started off earlier than that, with players drinking heavily and another woman being confronted by the inebriated men. 

“They were on a tear,” said one person who saw them that evening.

"She drank. He drank. Then they kissed several times. He added her on Snapchat. What began as benign, however, turned more aggressive, the young woman says. He urged some friends he was with to kiss her, too. She refused. He asked her to come back to their hotel room. Not to come back to the hotel with him. To come back with them. She felt uncomfortable and declined. She had to work the next morning, she told him. Again, he asked her to come back to their hotel room. Again, she declined."

The alleged victim then arrived at the club. And it went downhill from there. Here are some excerpts from the article from The Athletic, which deserves a full read:

"According to the young woman’s statement of claim, at some point in the early-morning hours, she and John Doe 1 “engaged in sex acts” in his hotel room. Then, John Doe 1 invited his teammates to the room without her knowledge or consent.

According to the young woman’s statement of claim, they made her touch herself and perform oral sex on them. They straddled her and placed their genitals in her face. They slapped her buttocks, spit on her, ejaculated onto her, and engaged in vaginal intercourse while she was incapable of consent.

At one point, she started crying and tried to leave the room, she said. She was then “directed, manipulated and intimidated into remaining,” according to her statement of claim.

Throughout the alleged assaults, the young woman said she feared imminent physical harm. Some players brought their golf clubs into the room. The sheer number of them and the presence of the clubs made her feel intimidated and threatened. As a result, she said she acquiesced to the sexual acts."

After that, the victim went home and realized what had taken place. The players... they went golfing. 

Many players have since denied involvement in the allegations. On Wednesday, Max Comtois and Brett Howden made statements on the incident. Other players have made statements in the past that they weren’t involved. St. Louis Blues forwards Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou released separate statements on social media Tuesday saying they had no involvement in the alleged incident. The agency representing Carter Hart, Jake Bean, Kale Clague, Colton Point, and Taylor Raddysh also released a statement denying any involvement in the incident on behalf of the players. Late on Tuesday, NHL player agent Gerry Johannson posted a statement regarding his client Sam Steel and the 2018 World Junior team investigations/allegations. Four other players from that Canadian championship team — Cale Makar, Victor Mete, Conor Timmins and Jonah Gadjovich — have also publicly stated they weren’t involved in previous statements.

The Athletic offers a tough read on what allegedly took place. But the truth needs to come out.