Cale Makar Gives Statement After Being Ruled Ineligible For International Play

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Dawson McKenzie
February 6, 2024 (4:45 PM)

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Cale Makar is one of the players who has not been charged in the World Junior scandal but was on the team, and he released a statement regarding his punishment.

Members of the 2018 World Junior Team Not Eligible To Play For Hockey Canada Since Investigation Started

It's been roughly 5 years since the investigation into the 2018 Team Canada World Junior team broke, and now it has come to a head. 5 Players have been charged criminally by the London Police, Carter Hart (Philadelphia Flyers), Michael McLeod (New Jersey Devils), Dillon Dube (Calgary Flames), Cal Foote (New Jersey Devils) and former NHLer Alex Formenton (Ottawa Senators). These players, along with their charges, were confirmed by the London Chief of Police yesterday.

As a result of the investigation, Hockey Canada released a statement which clarified that all members of the Team have been suspended from international play under their umbrella, including players who were not charged.

As part of this statement, Hockey Canada says all players from that team remain suspended from international competition under its umbrella. Next year's Four Nations Faceoff is not part of this, as it is an NHL/NHLPA event

Makar Reiterates That He Was Not There And Did Not Provide Comment on the Investigation

Cale Makar is arguably the best player from that 2018 Team, and despite not being involved in the incident, will effectively be suspended from the Olympics if Hockey Canada does not lift the suspension. He reiterated in a comment during All-Star weekend that he was not a part of the incident and was not there.

«It's tough. I've been told not to comment on that ongoing investigation. I've been straightforward from the start. I wasn't there,» Makar said. «It was a very fortunate bounce to not obviously be a part of something like that. I'm just going to leave it to the people who are handling the work right now. I can't stress enough that I wasn't part of that.

We will see if Hockey Canada lifts this ban as more details are released during the legal proceedings for the case.

As seen on Hockey Feed - "Cale Makar speaks out after being banned from Olympics"