Players will cooperate in NHL's investigation of Hockey Canada scandal

Former CHL players accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2018 will cooperate with the NHL's investigation into the incident.

"Our clients will fully participate in the NHL investigation," attorney Kaleigh Davidson, one of the lawyers representing the players, told TSN's Rick Westhead. "Interviews are currently in the process of being arranged."

The lawyers also said the NHL shouldn't discipline their clients because any sexual contact between the players and the woman was consensual.

"That would be a very dangerous precedent to set," she said. "If players can be sanctioned for engaging in consensual sexual activity, the question becomes where do we draw the line? Employers should not be making judgment calls about what consensual sexual activity is acceptable based on perceptions about what fits within highly personal and subjective social norms, particularly when these norms change over time."

In a lawsuit filed in April, a woman said eight CHL players - including some members of Canada's 2018 world junior team - sexually assaulted her following a Hockey Canada event in London, Ontario, in June 2018. The plaintiff asked the judge to award $3.55 million, but the suit was settled out of court for an unknown amount in May. The allegations weren't proven in court, and none of the defendants filed a response.

Hockey Canada is reopening its investigation into the alleged assault, and the woman involved said she would cooperate. However, the lawyers declined to say whether the players would partake in Hockey Canada's investigation.

The NHL has informed the attorneys involved that the league wants its investigation finished before training camps begin in the fall, a source told Westhead.

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