Five members from Canada’s 2018 world junior team (Hart, McLeod, Dube, Foote and Formenton) told to surrender to police, facing sexual assault charges

[SniperOnTheWing]

This thread is the equivalent of putting a huge red “DO NOT PRESS” button in front of thousands of people.

If there’s no speculation allowed then what is there to talk about here that hasn’t been discussed for like two years already. The mods are just making work for themselves by leaving this thread open.

 

[Chainshot]

Brought to you by Bet365.

So you're saying Shane Pinto has a chance.

We use regular glasses.

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I now want to see Jerry on The Trailer Park Boys, going on about cats.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Ok… you all need to take a damn breath…. Every time I go back to catch up on posts, you people jump forward another page…. Slow down so I can read damn it

I am debating making it live for ease of:

 

[CanMerc]

Are we talking about the same TSN?

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Still a "top headline" as far as I can tell.

They put it back.. wasn’t there a bit ago… maybe they were just updating, but there’s still one missing from earlier

 

[kevsh]

If the 5 have been told to surrender, then the rest of them know they're in the clear.

I wouldn't automatically assume that.

First, the investigation could be ongoing. Second, at any time one or more of the five may "talk" to investigators (may have already) and more information comes to light.

Beyond that, the others may still be called as witnesses which implies they're not facing criminal liability, but what they say on the stand will become public (for better or worse). Lastly, the NHL is doing its own investigation and may still hold others accountable.

 

[lipstickjunkie]

I'm just glad Makar has not requested a leave of absence for personal reasons.

 

[GKJ]

Looks like he hasn't slept in 3 weeks. Needs some eye cream.

If you’ve worked for the Flyers the past handful of years, you weren’t getting much sleep

 

[CanMerc]

I am debating making it live for ease of:

Probably best option

 

[LOFIN]

This thread is the equivalent of putting a huge red “DO NOT PRESS” button in front of thousands of people.

If there’s no speculation allowed then what is there to talk about here that hasn’t been discussed for like two years already. The mods are just making work for themselves by leaving this thread open.

Maybe it should be time for the mods to notify admins that their rules do not correspond to the realities of the world. "We have been sued for less" yeah sure. There would be literally thousands of lawsuits going on because I've been listening to various Canadian sports radio stations today and basically all of them have mentioned it, and especially mentioned the names. Sure seems like journalists are not afraid to "speculate". Yet here we are afraid that an anonymous internet forum will get sued instead of the two mega media companies in Canada.

 

[Number8]

If I recall, there are not insignificant differences between the US and Canada legal system and what in effect it means to be arrested, charged, etc.

In the US, generally speaking once you are charged, it's essentially going to court unless the charges are subsequently dropped or a plea deal is made.

What does it mean to be "charged" with a crime in Canada? Is it effectively the same?

 

[Avs44]

This thread is the equivalent of putting a huge red “DO NOT PRESS” button in front of thousands of people.

If there’s no speculation allowed then what is there to talk about here that hasn’t been discussed for like two years already. The mods are just making work for themselves by leaving this thread open.

Pretty much. I appreciate that this isn't fun for the mods and they're just trying to protect the site from anything, no matter how slim, but if this is how it's going to be moderated it should just be locked (but perhaps pinned) so that people can see the news. But given the wide spread of what apparently counts as "speculation," there's no purpose to allowing "discussion."

 

[forsbergavs32]

I am debating making it live for ease of:

My personal favorite

 

[Evergreen]

You got Reddit for that.
Blame the asshole that tried to sue HFboards before due to people spreading rumours.

Can we speculate as to who that asshole was?

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

It's possible that a player for that team may have officially found out that they have been cleared, had a mental breakdown, and had to take a leave of absence. Most of that roster has been under tremendous scrutiny since the allegations came out.

Or perhaps they cooperated with the investigation and everything is now coming to a head.

The public isn't owed anything if the victim does not wish it, and on the off chance that an un-involved player had to take an LoA due to the latest developments, we can wait until official charges are filed.

 

[Number8]

How the Canadian system works is different than US.

They will likely be an "Arrest" the moment they show up at the police station and provide iD. They will then be read their Charter-based rights. In Canada you do not get a lawyer that comes with you to this.
They will not speak,as advised, so then charges will be laid. They will be processed and then released, with conditionons.

Reminder to everyone that there is a presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law, NOT the other way around.

Scratch my post above. Thanks for this.

 

[Avs44]

I'm just glad Makar has not requested a leave of absence for personal reasons.

If I recall correctly, (from the reporting back in 2022) and the legal documents from the woman's lawsuit, all of the alleged players involved were CHL players (with some of them being members of the WJC team). That pretty much cleared all the NCAA guys immediately.

 

[CanMerc]

Figuring out who the 5 players are is like reading a where’s Waldo book with a page that is completely blank except for a big Waldo in the center

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

Can we speculate as to who that asshole was?

It was Brian Burke the dork.

Again, HF is legally protected because he did do it, and it is the king of thing a dork would do. Truth is absolute defense to libel.

 

[BE Friend]

Remember there is a woman behind all of this. Nothing proven AT ALL right now. Still this will be a traumatic day for her also. These guys won't have public defenders. It will be a fair fight for facts before a judge / jury.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

They don't just charge people on false claims like that. I can't go into detail but sadly a member of my family is currently going through the exact same thing, it took almost 2 years of gathering evidence/statements etc. from family and friends before the police could formally charge the accused.

The crown also put a publication ban on the case, they do by default in most of these kinds of cases to protect the identity of the victims (can be removed if the victim appeals, and they want the info to be public)

Very likely that, that is the same case here. Lots of women and girls don't come forward for several years because of being threatened and fear of their image being tainted in public. Sure there are instances of "false claims" but over 90% of the time that is not the case. It is a LOT of work/stress for all the family members involved, people don't just pull that for no reason.

If they've been told to surrender themselves, they have to within a set time frame, otherwise there will be a nation wide warrant out for their arrest and then their names will be public. Also they don't tell people to just surrender themselves unless they have sufficient evidence that suggests that the accused is guilty.

Do you have receipts for the bolded statistic?

 

[Soundwave]

Pretty much. I appreciate that this isn't fun for the mods and they're just trying to protect the site from anything, no matter how slim, but if this is how it's going to be moderated it should just be locked (but perhaps pinned) so that people can see the news. But given the wide spread of what apparently counts as "speculation," there's no purpose to allowing "discussion."

I mean lets be honest, no one is suing a message board for libel anything, lol. Message boards are largely a relic of the internet past, speculation is rampant already on Redditt, Tiktok, social media, etc. etc. etc. etc. No one cares what a few hundred posters on an internet forum talk about.

 

[Empoleon8771]

One thing I would say to support the “no speculation” part: not naming names, I think it’s painfully obvious that 3 or 4 of the players who have taken leaves are related to this, but the other one was stated explicitly for mental health reasons by his team. It’s entirely possible that he took a legitimate leave due to mental health and the timing just absolutely screwed him. Either that or his team just flat out lied, which is pretty damning on the team if that’s the case.

From that point of view, I think the “no naming names” rule is totally legit.

 

[TheDoldrums]

 

[swiftwin]

These guys won't have public defenders.

So, business as usual for <redacted>?

 

[red devil]