According to a report from CBC, Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas has granted former NHL players Michael McLeod, Cal Foote, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, and Dillon Dube to miss their pretrial arguments.
The charges are connected to an alleged sexual assault of a woman at a Hockey Canada’s gala on June 19, 2018.
When the charges were brought forward, McLeod and Foote were members of the New Jersey Devils. Dube and Hart were playing for the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers, respectively. Formenton has already moved on from the NHL as he was playing overseas in Switzerland.
The five former NHLers are now allowed to skip pretrial arguments to put their focus on finding work to pay for legal fees.
“The applicants have each provided an affidavit wherein they acknowledge the importance of the proceedings and waive the necessity of attending the hearings,” Thomas wrote. “It is clear each of the applicants has a need to work or find work not only to sustain themselves but to pay their expenses, which at this point include legal fees.”
McLeod and Dube have since signed in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The former Devils center is a member of the Barys Astana, where his teammates include Will Butcher and Chase De Leo, who also played in New Jersey.
Foote and Hart aren’t playing but stated they are training in Denver and Alberta, respectively. Formenton has “moved on from a hockey career” and works in construction in Barrie, Ontario.
This continues to be a developing story, and more details will follow.
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