An independent adjudicative panel found that during a fund-raising event in London in June 2018, members of Hockey Canada’s 2018 world junior team violated the governing body’s code of conduct, according to an email sent to governors across the CHL, multiple league sources told The Athletic.
Shortly after the panel released its findings to Hockey Canada and other parties involved, an undisclosed party filed a notice of appeal, Hockey Canada announced in a statement.
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As a result of the appeal, Hockey Canada will not reveal details of the investigative report or the findings that were provided by the panel to “not interfere with the integrity of the appeal process.” The organization said it expects the appeals process to begin “in the near future.”
Hockey Canada did not share any details about which section of its code of conduct the panel said was broken. The organization’s code of conduct covers a wide range of behaviors including how players, staff and team personnel should dress, how to properly interact with opponents and officials during games, that underage drinking is strictly prohibited and it also includes sections about how players and staff should refrain from any behavior that constitutes sexual harassment.
Hockey Canada has been under intense scrutiny since May 2022 when allegations of sexual assault against members of the 2018 world junior team were made public. In the complaint, filed in April 2022 in Ontario Superior Court, a woman alleged that she was assaulted by eight players in a London, Ont., hotel room on June 19, 2018, following a Hockey Canada Foundation event. The allegations became public in a lawsuit that Hockey Canada settled in May 2022.
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Police in London, Ont., and Hockey Canada then reopened their investigations into the incident, and the NHL began conducting an investigation as well. In October 2022, Hockey Canada CEO Scott Smith and its board of directors stepped down in the wake of scrutiny facing the governing body. Two months later, the federation elected a new board of directors.
Hockey Canada also hired the law firm Henein Hutchison Robitaille to investigate the allegations of sexual assault and file a report on its findings. That report was given to the independent adjudicative panel, which held a hearing to decide whether the 2018 world junior team players violated Hockey Canada’s code of conduct on June 19, 2018.
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(Photo: Andy Devlin / Getty Images)