Jan 8, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart (79) in the tunnel against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Former Flyers goalie Carter Hart has been denied entry into the United States because of a criminal charge against him in an alleged group sexual assault that took place in Canada in 2018.
According to a report in the Globe and Mail, Hart and the other four hockey players on the 2018 Canadian World Junior Team who were charged earlier this year, provided statements to the Canadian courts about their inability to attend certain pretrial hearings because of other commitments.
Justice Bruce Thomas granted permission for them to miss these pretrial conferences, because of their schedules, but in the submissions from each player, obtained by the Globe and Mail, Hart wrote, "I have been previously denied entrance to the United States due to my criminal charge."
Hart's submission indicated that he was trying to move from his home in Alberta to Tennessee to work out with another former professional hockey player. It also indicated that he had retained an immigration lawyer to assist with his effort to come back to the United States.
Onetime Ottawa Senators player Alex Formenton and four other former NHL players who are charged in an alleged 2018 sexual assault received permission from a judge to skip pre-trial motions in their case so they can work and train elsewhere.
While several of the players are…
— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) September 9, 2024
It is unclear whether Hart has since been able to successfully return to the U.S. as Thomas approved the applications to skip the pre-trial hearings in August and it seemed that some of the applications were submitted to the court by the accused players in July.
Hart, Mike McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton were charged in February with committing a sexual assault against a woman in London, Ontario following a Hockey Canada function in the summer of 2018. All five have denied committing the alleged crimes and have agreed to be present in court once a jury is convened, which likely won't take place until 2025. All five will plead not guilty.
McLeod and Dube are playing in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. Formenton has stopped playing hockey and is transitioning to a new career that has him learning to operate heavy machinery for a construction company. Neither Foote nor Hart are affiliated with any hockey league, but both said they are sticking with their training regimen in hopes of being able to resume their hockey careers.
