Kennedy calls on Hockey Canada to release report on alleged sexual abuse incident

TSN Senior Correspondent

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Content Warning: The following article contains references to sexual assault

Former NHL player and abuse survivor Sheldon Kennedy says Hockey Canada should publicly disclose the findings of its investigation into allegations that eight Canadian Hockey League players, including members of Canada’s 2017-18 World Junior team, sexually assaulted a woman in a London, Ont., hotel.

Kennedy was speaking in response to TSN’s reporting last week that a settlement had been reached in a lawsuit filed in April by a woman referred to in court documents as “E.M.” against Hockey Canada, the CHL and eight players who allegedly assaulted her.

The woman alleged that she was abused for hours in a London hotel by the players after a Hockey Canada gala event in June of 2018. The players were not identified in court documents and the allegations were never proven.

Hockey Canada spokeswoman Esther Madziya wrote in a statement to TSN that after becoming aware of the allegations in 2018, the organization contacted London police and hired Toronto law firm Henein Hutchison LLP to conduct an independent investigation and make recommendations to Hockey Canada on areas for improvement.

"My question is why does Hockey Canada feel this is not important for the public to know?” Kennedy said in an interview with TSN on Tuesday.

“These players who were allegedly involved, John Does 1 to 8, were at the Hockey Canada awards gala. These are the young men who are the elite of the elite. In today's world, how is it that not one of those eight players had the courage or the care or the clarity to stand up and say, ‘No. This is not happening.’ Even if some of them did not participate, they were bystanders. Why didn't