Hawks forward asked to comment on reported charges pending in the Hockey Canada case

Chicago Blackhawks winger Boris Katchouk was met with some tough questions on Wednesday following team practice. The forward, who was part of the 2018 Team Canada roster at the World Junior championships in 2018, was asked to comment on reported charges pending in the ongoing investigation by the London Police. The questions came after it was reported by the Globe and Mail that that five former players from the 2018 world junior hockey team have been told to surrender to London, Ont., police to face charges of sexual assault. The players have reportedly been given a set period of time to present themselves at London police headquarters.

Links were quickly made with Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart, who was a member of the 2018 WJC Team Canada, and was granted an indefinite leave of absence by the Flyers. This came just days after the Calgary Flames announced that Dillion Dube was stepping away from the game to focus on his mental health. He too was a member of the 2018 roster for Team Canada.

Also, Ottawa Senators reserve list player Alex Formenton is returning to Canada and granted an indefinite leave of absence from the Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta. Finally, the New Jersey’s Cal Foote and Michael McLeod were also granted an indefinite leave of absence from the Devils.

Katchouk was a teammate of all five players in 2018 and was mentioned at some point in the investigation like all players from the roster. He however reiterated on Wednesday that he was not involved in the case and made these comments, per team insider Mark Lazerus.

“I haven’t been involved, I wasn’t involved, and I fully cooperated with everything that’s been going on.”

London police launched an investigation in 2022 after chatter surfaced that Hockey Canada had settled a lawsuit with a woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by eight members of that team at a gala.

When news emerged that a woman had been gang raped by players from the 2018 junior team, some of the roster’s members had made statements that they weren’t involved.

More will come out of this story as the London police keeps investigating and possible charges are made public.

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