Former world junior hockey players’ sex assault trial paused due to juror illness

LONDON — The sex assault trial of five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team has been put on hold for a day due to juror illness.

The trial is expected to resume Friday and hear more testimony from Taylor Raddysh, an NHL player who was also on the 2018 world junior team.

Raddysh, who plays for the Washington Capitals, took the stand remotely from Arlington, Va., on Wednesday afternoon.

Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote have all pleaded not guilty to sexual assault in connection with an encounter in a London, Ont., hotel room in June 2018.

McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.

On Wednesday, Raddysh told the court he remembers very little about the night of the alleged incident, when many of the team’s members were in town for a gala celebrating the team’s championship victory.

He said he remembers seeing McLeod and another teammate, Boris Katchouk, in McLeod’s hotel room with a woman but can’t recall how the woman was positioned or if she was wearing clothes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2025.