NHL responds to report of alleged sexual assault as current players could be involved

Earlier this week, Rick Westhead reported that a woman contacted the Ontario Provincial Police at the end of February of this year to report an alleged sexual assault that took place in 2014. She alleges that she was assaulted by eight Ontario Hockey League players. The alleged victim goes by the pseudonym, Anne Marie and says she was raped by the players in one of their billet homes. What began as a consensual act became a group sexual assault, the woman said.

On Thursday, the OHL made a statement regarding allegations in a CTV Report filed on Wednesday:

Later that same day, Darren Dreger reported that the NHL was informed of the alledged assault and also provided a statement. This is what Dreger added on Insider Trading on TSN:

"Well, it’s not just the National Hockey League here. It’s really all corners of the hockey world. Extremely disappointed with these allegations of alleged sexual assault. Most of the governing bodies around the hockey world are waiting for more information before commenting on what their next steps might be. As for the National Hockey League, the NHL has acknowledged Rick Westhead’s reporting from Wednesday and a spokesperson with the NHL says:

“The NHL is deeply troubled by any accusation of this nature. We have no information beyond what was in the media report from last night.”

“It is a developing story and it’s obviously one with more to come in the days ahead.”

Anne Marie felt shame and has dealt with the trauma of the attack for the past ten year. She did not tell her family what had happened until this year, after watching a press conference in which London’s chief of police apologized to a different woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by former Canadian world junior players in 2018. You all know which incident we are referring to as five players, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote and Michael McLeod, have been charged with one count of sexual assault, with McLeod also facing an additional charge (being party to the offence) in the 2018 World Junior alleged sexual assault. It’s alleged the incident occurred following a Hockey Canada gala in Ontario in June 2018, when the players were honoured for their victory at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Not only has the NHL and hockey community been rocked by that ongoing investigation, but there have been other disturbing allegations that were brought forward as another alleged sexual assault is said to have place in 2003 and reportedly involved players from the 2003 World Junior Team Canada. The investigation remains ongoing.

On top of that, this summer, a pair of former Quebec junior hockey players were sentenced to lengthy prison sentences by Quebec court Judge Thomas Jacques for their assault of an underage woman at a hotel during celebrations of the Victoriaville Tigres championship. The players in question are Nicolas Daigle, who was sentenced to 32 months in jail, along with Massimo Siciliano, who was sentenced to 30 months in jail.

As for Anne Marie and her frightening story, the NHL could get involved as it is possible that some of the players have played or are still playing in the league at this point. According to the 2014 NHL Draft order, 41 players from the OHL were selected in that year.