Breaking: Stunning Statements From Judge in Hockey Canada Sexual Assault Case

The trial of five former NHLers, members of the Canadian Junior Hockey Team in 2018, is coming to a dramatic conclusion Thursday morning. And the judge in the case has made some stunning statements in preparation for the reading of a verdict.

Justice Maria Carroccia, in reading her statement, said:

Having found that I cannot rely upon the evidence of E.M. and then considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me.

The judge is still going over all the evidence, as has not officially read a verdict as of 11:00am Eastern Time.

Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton have all pled not guilty to sexual assault charges over an incident that took place at a Hockey Canada event during the 2018 World Junior Hockey Championship tournament. A 20-year-old woman ("E.M.") said she was sexually assaulted over a span of hours by the players in a London, Ont., hotel room.

All but Formenton were active in the NHL when the charges were revealed midway through the 2023-24 season, and all were given an indefinite leave from their teams. Several of them have played hockey in Russia since then, but one, goaltender Hart, has not.

There are many observers around the sport who expect Hart to return to the NHL if found not guilty. Legal analyst Eric Macramella repeated this idea on TSN690 Thursday morning. "Frankly, (the players) got a chance to make their case not once, not twice, but five times. Five defendants... you're able to push the same narrative over and over again... For 'E.M.', it didn't go as well as the Crown hoped."

Macramella went so far as to say that he "guarantees" that Hart will return to the NHL if he's acquitted, due to the dearth of strong goaltending around the league.

This story will be updated once an official verdict is read.