Charged Team Canada WJC scandal player Alex Formenton officially retires from hockey at 24

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Daniel Lucente
September 6, 2024 (5:46 PM)

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Alex Formenton is one of five former NHL players involved in an assault case who have been granted permission to skip their pretrial hearings.

A judge has granted permission to five charged former NHL players to skip upcoming pretrial hearings for "compelling economic reasons". Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote are named in the case stemming from the time they spent with Canada's world junior hockey team.

In a decision from August that was made public Thursday, the same day pretrial motions got underway, Ontario Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas excused Alex Formenton from 29 scheduled days in court. Those 29 proceedings will be devoted to legal arguments about what evidence is admitted before a jury.

The charges relate to an alleged crime that occurred on June 19, 2018, in a hotel room after a Hockey Canada Foundation event. A publication ban is in place to protect the identity of both the woman and two witnesses.

Alex Formenton, through his lawyer, has said he will plead not guilty and also has opted for a jury trial, set to start in September of 2025.

In the decision, Judge Thomas wrote that all five men were once "skilled junior hockey players" who, since the laying of charges in early 2022, have not been able to further their careers in the NHL. Alex Formenton, for example, has given up on professional hockey and started working in construction full-time, court records show. He now lives in Barrie, Ontario.

Although the Crown had no objection to Alex Formenton being excused from the pre-trial hearings, they recognized this to be a "significant accommodation."

Alex Formenton has waived his right to a preliminary hearing, which expedites the court process. His attorney has represented him in court dates so far, but he has agreed to appear in person for his trial, once that actually gets underway, court records show. Formenton's absence during the pretrial part of the case won't hold up proceedings, although the need for his presence can be revisited later should he be required to attend for an urgent or serious matter.

Source: CBC
Here's why a judge let 5 former NHLers skip pretrial arguments in their sexual assault case