Fans wonder which big names from the 2003 World Junior team could be involved in new group sex assault allegations

Clearly, the 2018 sexual assault case was only the tip of the iceberg…

On Friday, Hockey Canada made a statement about the information they received from TSN’s Rick Westhead, learning of an alleged group sexual assault from 2003 involving members of the 2002-03 National Junior Team.

“Mr. Westhead informed Hockey Canada he has spoken to multiple witnesses who provided him with explicit descriptions of an assault, following an interview with Conservative MP John Nater who is in possession of the same or similar information.”

MP John Nater is a member of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which heard testimony from Hockey Canada officials on June 20 about 2018 sexual assault allegations and their handling of a lawsuit settled in May. Another set of hearings is schedule for July 26-27. The organization says it remains in contact with the Halifax Regional Police upon learning of the allegations (Halifax co-hosted the 2003 world junior championship) and also made Sport Canada aware of the situation.

Before finding out about the incident, Hockey Canada staff had “heard a rumour about ‘something bad at the 2003 World Juniors’” but did not have details.

“We believe the alleged incident from 2003 should be investigated by the authorities, and we urge the police to open an investigation into this disturbing situation. Hockey Canada will cooperate with and support the authorities in every way we can, and we once again urge anyone who may have relevant information about this alleged incident to contact Halifax police immediately.”

This prompted many fans to look into the 2003 World Juniors, in which Canada won the Silver medal after losing 3-2 to Russia in the championship game. Alex Ovechkin was on the Russian roster and got the gold medal at the tournament.

The roster from the U20 World Juniors in 2003 is one of the most popular search on Google as of Friday afternoon. This is the roster in question:

We are not calling out any player saying he was involved in the incident. An investigation will take place and we assume all of them will have to cooperate to the investigation.

This is so messy at Hockey Canada. The culture needs a change. FAST.