Players will cooperate in NHL’s abuse investigation, lawyers say

TSN Senior Correspondent

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Content Warning: The following article contains references to sexual assault.

Lawyers representing a group of former Canadian Hockey League players accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2018 say the players will cooperate with the National Hockey League’s investigation into the incident and that the league should not discipline the players because any sexual contact between the players and the woman was consensual.

“Our clients will fully participate in the NHL investigation,” attorney Kaleigh Davidson said in an interview with TSN on Sunday. “Interviews are currently in the process of being arranged.”

While the players have pledged to speak to the NHL about the allegations, Davidson and other lawyers representing the former CHL players declined to say whether the players also will cooperate with a separate Hockey Canada investigation, even though the players face a possible lifetime ban from the organization for refusing to do so.

Hockey Canada announced Thursday that it is reopening its investigation into the alleged assault and the woman involved in the case has said she will cooperate.

Davidson said that the NHL should not discipline the players involved.

“That would be a very dangerous precedent to set,” she said. “If players can be sanctioned for engaging in consensual sexual activity, the question becomes where do we draw the line? Employers should not be making judgment calls about what consensual sexual activity is acceptable based on perceptions about what fits within highly personal and subjective social norms, particularly when these norms change over time.”

The NHL has informed attorneys involved in the case that the league wants its investigation to wrap up