Hockey Canada issues updates on 2018 investigation

Earlier Monday, after the London Police Service held a press conference regarding the investigation into several players of the 2018 U20 Team Canada roster, Hockey Canada released several updates of their own. 

The major takeaway from the report is that all members of the 2018 U20 Team Canada roster remain suspended from Hockey Canada-sanctioned events, pending an appeal process started in 2023.

For this specifically, Hockey Canada is investigating whether or not any team members breached the organization’s code of conduct and what sanctions should be imposed on the individual players. 

With respect to the investigation and the legal process, Hockey Canada was unable to comment further and did not give a clear timeline as to when the appeals process may reach its conclusion.

Depending on the timeline, this will bar all players from the 2018 U20 Team Canada roster from playing in any international events, except the “4 Nations Face-Off” in 2025, as it is an NHL-sanctioned event. 

Without getting into the specifics, the president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada, Katherine Henderson was quoted as saying:

“Hockey Canada recognizes that in the past we have been too slow to act and that in order to deliver the meaningful change that Canadians expect of us, we must work diligently and urgently to ensure that we are putting in place the necessary measures to regain their trust, and provide all participants with a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment on and off the ice”.

Outside of Hockey Canada, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers will receive cap relief for players currently on leave who have been charged in the 2018 Team Canada legal proceedings. 

Without specifying how much cap relief the teams would receive, it is reasonable to assume that the full dollar amount of each player’s contract will now be taken off the books for the foreseeable future, meaning $2.3M, $2.2M, and $3.98M, respectively.