MAJOR | Five members of 2018 World Junior team facing charges
The 2018 World Junior Championship in Buffalo featured a loaded Canadian roster with a plethora of future NHL superstars and culminated in Canada's 17th gold medal at the tournament. Leading the way were standouts Cale Makar, Carter Hart, Drake Batherson, and Jordan Kyrou among many other notable names. They defeated Sweden 3-1 in an electric gold medal game which saw Tyler Steenbergen score the go-ahead goal with just under two minutes remaining in regulation.
However, this particular win for Canada has been scrutinized by fans and media, due to severe off-ice allegations concerning several unnamed members of the team involving a woman identified as «E.M». The alleged incident took place in June of 2018 at a Hockey Canada charity golf event in London, Ontario. An investigation was opened, closing in February of 2019, but later re-opening.
On Wednesday morning, reporter Rick Westhead tweeted that five members of the team have been told to surrender to London police and are facing charges. This comes nearly six years since the incident and almost four since the woman involved filed a statement against Hockey Canada.
It's worth noting that several players have denied having any involvement � such as Avalanche superstar Cale Makar, or Flyers defenseman Victor Mete. Perhaps coincidentally, Flames forward Dillon Dube and Flyers goaltender Carter Hart both announced personal leaves of absence from their respective clubs within the past week. Both were members of the 2018 World Junior team. Forward Alex Formenton, who was playing for the London Knights of the OHL at the time, was inexplicably left unsigned by the Ottawa Senators in 2022, which has led many fans to suspect his potential involvement.
At this time, no names of players facing charges have been made public, but they have been given a set time period to present themselves to London police.
