National News
Crown Meaghan Cunningham, right, and Taylor Raddysh, depicted in video conference, are seen in a courtroom sketch in London, Ont., Wednesday, April 30, 2025.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alexandra Newbould
Hockey players' sexual assault trial hears from former world junior teammates
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Two former members of Canada's world junior hockey team recalled seeing a woman in bed under the covers when they stopped by a teammate's hotel room after a night of celebration seven years ago, they told the sexual assault trial of five hockey players Friday.
Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk, both professional hockey players who were part of the 2018 world junior team, each testified by videoconference at the trial of Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote.
All five accused have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, and McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.
Several members of the team were in London, Ont., over several days in June 2018 for a handful of events marking their victory at that year’s championship, court has heard.
Hockey Canada hosted a ring ceremony and a gala on June 18, after which some of the players went out to a bar, court heard.
Katchouk, who currently plays for the American Hockey League, told the court he left the bar with Foote earlier than the others, and picked up a slice of pizza on the way back to the hotel.
Video footage of the hotel’s lobby showed the pair arriving at 2:23 a.m.
The two of them headed to their respective floors, but before he could get to his room, Katchouk ran into McLeod in the hallway, he said. McLeod invited him into his room, he told the court.
Inside, "I saw a woman laying on the bed, under the sheets, as I was talking to Mikey," he said.
The two teammates kept talking and at one point, McLeod asked him whether he would like a "gummer," or oral sex, which Katchouk understood would be from the woman on the bed, he said. He laughed off the offer, he said.
At another point, McLeod left the room and returned with Raddysh, Katchouk recalled. The three players talked for a bit before Raddysh suggested he and Katchouk leave, and the two of them took off, he said.
Raddysh, who now plays in the NHL for the Washington Capitals, told the court Wednesday he remembered very little about that night, but recalled seeing Katchouk and a woman in McLeod’s room in the early hours of the morning.
On Friday, court heard part of a transcript of a statement Raddysh gave in July 2018, in which he recalled seeing a woman in bed under the covers.
In the statement, Raddysh said he wasn't in the room long and didn't know if the woman was clothed but that she "seemed fine."
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