As Carter Hart’s debut looms, Knights say, ‘We took this very seriously’

Carter Hart spent the past month following the same routine.

The goaltender skated to one of the Golden Knights’ nets during practice to give Akira Schmid or Carl Lindbom a rest. He would track a couple of shots from his new teammates, then go back to the end boards.

Hart, wearing a solid white mask and all-white pads, also would play pucks behind the net before and after practice to get extra touches.

He usually was the last player to enter the locker room, often after it cleared out. He would go to his stall, with silence all around him, and take off his pads.

The irony is Hart’s last two years have been anything but quiet.

The 27-year-old will join the Knights’ roster Monday after spending much of the past two years in the middle of a sexual assault scandal that rocked Canada’s hockey culture.

Hart is getting a second chance to prove himself to a new team, a league that prides itself on integrity and respect, and fans who have publicly questioned whether he should be on the team.

Hart was one of five players from Canada’s 2018 World Junior team charged with sexual assault in January 2024. The charges stemmed from an alleged incident after a celebration of the team’s championship in June 2018.

Hart, Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, Dillon Dubé and Michael McLeod were acquitted in July. Hart is the only one who has since signed with an NHL team.

“We took this very seriously before we made any decisions, any commitments,” Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon told the Review-Journal on Wednesday. “And when we did, we felt good about doing it.”

Hart, a 2016 second-round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers, made his NHL debut Dec. 18, 2018. He went 96-93-29 in parts of six seasons with the Flyers. His last start was Jan. 20, 2024, when he allowed five goals on 15 shots in a 7-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

Hart was formally charged days later.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia oversaw the remainder of the case after declaring a mistrial twice. She ruled in favor of the defendants July 25.

“Given the issues relating to the credibility and reliability of the complainant’s evidence, I conclude that I cannot rely on it,” Carroccia said while handing down her verdict.

After the ruling, the NHL expressed its disapproval of the behavior detailed in the case, but determined the five players would be eligible to sign contracts Oct. 15 and be eligible to play Dec. 1, meaning Hart’s first start with the Knights could come almost two years after his last one in the league.

“The allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing, and the behavior at issue was unacceptable,” the NHL said in a statement after the ruling. “The league expects and requires that, going forward, each of the players will uphold the standards required of NHL players both on and off the ice.”

The Knights would not make Hart available to comment for this story.

A new chapter for Hart

Hart joined the Knights on a professional tryout deal Oct. 16, less than three months after his acquittal.

“I’m beyond grateful, excited and honored to be a part of the Golden Knights. It’s been a long road to get back to this point, to get back to the game of hockey, the game that I love,” Hart said that day in front of his locker at City National Arena. He did not answer questions regarding the trial that day.

Hart signed a two-year, $4 million contract eight days later. The Knights did not announce the contract on social media, an unusual move for the NHL when discussing roster transactions.

“The Golden Knights are aligned with the process and assessment the NHL and NHLPA made in their decision,” the team said in a statement Oct. 16 when Hart signed his professional tryout deal. “We remain committed to the core values that have defined our organization from its inception and expect that our players will continue to meet these standards moving forward.”

That statement, shared on the Knights’ X account, has more than 2,200 replies. The majority of commenters opposed the signing, questioning the team’s core values.

“If you have to put out a statement justifying your move, it probably wasn’t a good move to make,” replied X user @TOSportsAdam.

“Maybe signing a player that requires a club to put out a statement such as this is a (expletive) stupid idea,” @ghostive said.

McCrimmon defended the decision to sign Hart, saying, “It went through the Canadian court process. The judgment that came down was really decisive in terms of acquitting those players and exonerating them.”

The players met with league representatives, including commissioner Gary Bettman, before returning to play. McCrimmon said he was told the meetings went well and that Hart was “impressive in those meetings.

“And for those reasons, we had interest in Carter,” McCrimmon said. “When you read the document, when you follow it, when you looked at the decision that the judge made, I think there was an expectation coming out of that that, in some fashion, (the players) would be cleared by the National Hockey League. And that is, in fact, what happened.”

Team Canada: What happened that night?

Canada defeated Sweden 3-1 in January 2018 to win the World Junior Championships, an annual international tournament for players age 20 or younger.

The team gathered to celebrate its achievement June 18 that year in London, Ontario.

The group, which stayed at the Delta Hotels London Armouries, attended a gala thrown in its honor with food and alcohol, given the legal drinking age in Ontario is 19.

Players later went to Jack’s, a bar in downtown London, arriving between 11:20 p.m. and 11:40 p.m., according to testimonies and court records. Hart, Dubé, Formenton, Foote and McLeod went, but Formenton, who was not 19 at the time, was not permitted to enter. He then went to sports bar Joe Kool’s.

Between 11 p.m. and 11:20 p.m., a woman known as E.M. — her name was redacted as part of a publication ban during the trial — made plans with coworkers to go to Jack’s.

E.M. was on the dance floor, where she was approached by a man, according to her testimony. That man was current Knights forward Brett Howden, a member of Canada’s 2018 World Junior team.

Howden introduced E.M. to McLeod, according to her testimony.

E.M. and McLeod danced and drank for most of the night. She testified there was a connection between her and McLeod. They kissed.

The two were seen on surveillance cameras holding hands around 1:30 a.m. They took a cab to the Delta Hotels London Armouries and arrived at 1:48 a.m. The two made their way to McLeod’s room and had sex.

McLeod texted a group chat with his teammates at 2:10 a.m., asking, “Who wants to be in a 3 way quick.”

E.M. testified that seven or eight players made their way into the room that night. She said it was a chaotic scene and she felt “degraded” and “humiliated.” She said she performed oral sex on three men in the room. She left the hotel at 4:46 a.m.

Days after Team Canada’s encounter

McLeod contacted E.M. through Instagram on June 20, 2018. McLeod asked if E.M. went to the police, but it was her mother who initiated contact, according to court records.

E.M. told Detective Stephen Newton she didn’t want to press charges. She just wanted the players to be talked to.

Two videos that McLeod recorded were submitted as evidence with E.M. saying everything was consensual.

London Police and Hockey Canada investigated. No criminal charges were pressed at that time, but Hockey Canada issued a “Code of Conduct” violation.

A group text involving 11 players went out June 26, 2018.

“We all need to say the same thing if we get interviewed,” McLeod said. “Can’t have different stories or make anything up.”

“The boys who did things got consent so just tell them that and it’s fine,” Dube said.

“All we have to say is someone brought the girl back to the room,” Howden said. “We were all in there ordering food and the girl started begging from everyone to have sex with her.”

“Honestly boys nobody did anything wrong,” Hart said. “We got consent to anything that she did. She was the one begging for (sex).”

World Juniors sponsors drop out

E.M. filed a statement with the Ontario Superior Court seeking $3.55 million in damages in April 2022. Hockey Canada settled out of court for an undisclosed amount a month later. Canadian sports network TSN reported the allegations May 26, 2022. An audit was ordered by Canada’s sports minister Pascale St-Onge on Hockey Canada in June 2022.

The Canadian Press reported July 18, 2022, that Hockey Canada maintained a fund to pay for liabilities, including sexual assault claims. London police relaunched an internal review of the 2018 investigation.

A Hockey Canada official testified, via a third-party investigation, the organization paid $7.6 million across nine settlements related to sexual assault dating to 1989, according to The Canadian Press. That did not include the settlement with E.M.

Sponsors such as Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire and Scotiabank backed out of supporting the 2023 World Juniors team, and the Canadian Hockey League season. The organization lost nearly $24 million in sponsorships as a result.

Hockey Canada president Scott Smith was forced out as chief executive officer in October 2022. The board of directors resigned. Katherine Henderson was named the organization’s president in July 2023.

Hart provides testimony

Hart was the only one of the five accused to testify at the trial. He was called to testify by his lawyer, Megan Savard.

He testified he took part in the open bar at the gala dinner June 18, 2018. He described it as “having a good buzz going,” according to court records.

Hart drank “three or four beers” at Joe Kool’s, according to his testimony, then took advantage of Jack’s $1 beer special.

Hart, Formenton and teammate Robert Thomas returned to the hotel at 2:46 a.m. Hart then saw the threesome text from McLeod in the group chat.

“I’m in,” Hart replied.

After arriving to the room, Hart said he wanted to ensure any activity was fully consensual. He testified that E.M. said, “Can somebody (have sex with me)?”

Hart testified he did not want vaginal sex but asked for oral sex, which she performed on him for 30 to 60 seconds. McLeod, Formenton and fellow Team Canada players Max Comtois, Drake Batherson, Jake Bean, Sam Steel and Tyler Steenbergen were all in the room, Hart testified.

Hart testified his memory of that night was affected by the amount of alcohol he consumed.

Howden testifies in trial

Government prosecutors called Howden as a witness during the trial on May 20.

Howden said his memory was impacted by alcohol consumption, as well as a concussion he suffered March 24, 2022, in a game against the Nashville Predators at T-Mobile Arena.

In July 2022, Howden released a statement via agent J.P. Barry that said: “I had absolutely no interaction, verbally or physically, with the complainant (E.M.), which I explained fully to the Hockey Canada investigator.”

Prosecutors accused Howden of at least 15 inconsistencies in his testimony and accused him of feigning his memory.

Howden was not accused of any wrongdoing. He said he had not had any communication with Hart since the group text.

The Knights would not make Howden available to comment for this story.

The Canada Team verdict

Carroccia said she accepted the evidence of Hart asking for oral sex and E.M. agreeing to do so. Carroccia said she thought there was no other wrongdoing on his part.

Carroccia said she found “actual consent not vitiated (invalidated) by fear.”

“It is both gratifying and unsurprising to hear an impartial, and fully informed decision maker, to accept Mr. Hart’s testimony about what happened … as unshaken, credible and true,” Savard said after the trial. “The public narrative of this event, until this trial, was one-sided and untested. Now the criminal process has shown it to be false.”

Savard did not return requests by the Review-Journal for additional comment.

E.M.’s lawyer, Karen Bellehumeur, said her client’s treatment during cross-examination was “insulting, unfair, mocking and disrespectful.”

“E.M. did the best in her power to recount her experience honestly and to the best of her ability,” Bellehumeur said after the trial. “Now she questions what more she could have done. As her lawyer, I can tell her there’s nothing more she could have that. With that said, the justice system must do better.”

Mixed feelings for fans

Flyers season-ticket holder Kevin Brogan and his 16-year-old daughter, Julianna, are among those happy to see Hart get another chance.

Brogan would occasionally take Julianna to Philadelphia’s practices. Fans would line up outside the facility hoping to get an autograph or picture with the players.

Hart always stopped for Julianna, who suffers from anxiety so severe she is now homeschooled. Julianna, a fellow goalie, gravitated toward Hart. She wore No. 79 because of him. When that number wasn’t available, she would wear 70 — Hart’s number in junior hockey.

“(Hart is) so nice, so down-to-earth,” Kevin Brogan told the RJ. “We got to know him very well.”

Hart and the Brogans met about five different times. Each time was more memorable than the next. The last time they saw each other, Kevin Brogan said, was two days before Hart was charged.

Julianna continued to support Hart. She would share photos of them together on her Instagram stories.

About three or four months ago, one of Julianna’s teammates said she should be careful before Hart makes her “his next victim.”

“That was over the top for me,” Kevin Brogan said. “I just figured it’s just a dumb kid who doesn’t know what he’s talking about and doesn’t know how serious that is.”

Kevin Brogan said based on his interactions with Hart, he would never say a bad word about him or think of him in a negative light. He and Julianna are Flyers fans first, but have also adopted the Knights.

The two plan on being at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Dec. 11 when Hart visits Philadelphia for the first time with the Knights.

“If you would have asked me this a year ago, I would have said (Flyers fans) would boo him because it seemed like so many people wrote him off and the Flyers invested so much in him,” Kevin Brogan said. “But recently, it’s amazing. I see more and more Hart jerseys at the games. … I see more support for him than I have in the past. I hope that they support him. We absolutely will be.”

Some fans opposed to the signing questioned the Knights’ morality. A petition on change.org titled “Urge the Vegas Golden Knights to not sign Carter Hart” has more than 2,400 signatures.

One female fan who signed the petition contacted the RJ to express her outrage, but said she was uncomfortable having her name used. She said she was disappointed that the Knights didn’t “have the courage” to defend the signing outside of the statement.

“It is truly a bad look for the team, (which) claims to be ‘the protectors of the unprotected,’ to be so OK with this behavior, that they don’t even acknowledge why fans may have concerns,” she said. “Hiding behind the not guilty verdict assumes that the admitted behavior is acceptable.”

The fan added: “Since legality is no longer the issue, I feel that it is fair game to question the morality of Hart’s actions and the morality that the team has shown by signing him.”

Five other fans opposed to the signing also reached out to the RJ but also declined to speak on the record.

A female Silver Knights season-ticket holder who also did not want her name published said she would never feel comfortable cheering for Hart, but that the nearly two years away from the NHL was a suitable punishment.

Golden Knights’ hockey decisions

Hart joined the team when starting goaltenders Schmid and Adin Hill were healthy. Hill suffered a lower-body injury Oct. 20 and hasn’t played since.

Schmid, a pending restricted free agent, has helped the Knights stay afloat without Hill, who signed a six-year, $37.5 million extension in March.

Hart’s addition could force the team into a tough decision once all three goaltenders are available. NHL teams typically carry two on their active roster.

“You deal with the situation at hand, so we haven’t had (all three available),” McCrimmon said. “Had Adin not been injured, we’d have decisions to make along the way, whether we decide to carry three, whether we did something different than that.”

McCrimmon, formerly the longtime coach, general manager and owner of the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings, has kept tabs on Hart for years. Hart played with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips in junior hockey.

“It’s going to be a work in progress for Carter based on the time he’s missed,” McCrimmon said. “But I think he’s playing behind a team that plays well defensively. I think he’s playing with a team where the chances against are perhaps more predictable than they might be on some teams, so I think that’ll help him transition to NHL hockey.”

Hart returns to hockey

Hart started a game for the first time in almost two years Nov. 16 at Lee’s Family Forum, where he suited up for the Silver Knights.

He didn’t have a busy night. Hart stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced and took a shutout into the third period of a 5-2 win over the Calgary Wranglers.

“It’s just like riding a bike,” Hart said after the game. “I hadn’t had a ton of working practice being the third goalie.”

Hart saw more shots in his second start, making 23 saves in a 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals on Nov. 21.

In his final conditioning start Friday, he allowed four goals on 16 shots in a 4-3 loss to the Ontario Reign. Henderson led 3-2 with three minutes remaining before allowing two goals in 58 seconds.

“He’ll be welcomed with open arms,” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He’s practiced hard. Been a real good professional. He’s part of our family now, and that’s the way he’ll be treated.”

How Hart will be treated around the league remains to be seen, but there is already interest. ESPN announced Oct. 27, soon after his signing, that it will pick up the broadcast for the Knights’ visit to Philadelphia on Dec. 11.

That silence Hart heard each time he walked into the City National Arena locker room following a workout won’t be there soon. The Knights hope he’s ready for it.

“People have their own opinions, and we can’t control that,” Cassidy said. “When he gets here, hopefully he helps us win games. That’s why we signed him.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.