Two New Jersey Devils hockey players take “leaves of absence” from the team.
NEWARK, New Jersey Cal Foote and Michael McLeod of the New Jersey Devils hockey team will be taking “indefinite leaves of absence,” the team announced on Wednesday.
The Devils, who play home games at the Prudential Center in Newark, said McLeod and Foote requested the leaves of absence, which were approved. In a brief statement, the team stated that it “will have no further comment at this time.”
The action was taken in the hours following a London, Ontario, police request for five members of the Canadian World Junior Squad of 2018 to turn themselves in in relation to a sexual assault that occurred over five years prior, as reported by NJ Advance Media.
McLeod and Foote were both on the squad in 2018.
The Globe and Mail, the first outlet to report on the incident, claims that the five players have not yet been given official names or face charges.
Learn what’s going on in Newark with Patch’s free, real-time updates.
Your electronic mail address
Join in
According to the Globe and Mail in 2022, police have good reason to think that the five players raped a woman sexually in a hotel room following a Hockey Canada fundraiser banquet.
Two more members of the 2018 squad, Dillon Dube of the Flames and Carter Hart of the Flyers, have taken extended leave from the NHL over the last few days, according to Deadspin.com. Additionally, the Ambrì-Piotta Hockey Club in Switzerland announced on Wednesday that Alex Formenton was leaving to “return to Canada.”
In a statement on the claims made in 2018, McLeod stated that he is assisting with a police investigation, although he would not speak more.
According to SportingNews.com, a number of other players from the 2018 squad have released comments asserting that they had no involvement in the assault.
