Player from the 2003 Canadian World Junior Team inadvertently corroborates assault in his book
Yesterday afternoon Hockey Canada released a statement saying they were made aware of another sexual assault that took place during the 2003 World Juniors in Halifax. While that investigation is just beginning, the details from that tournament and the incident that have been shared already are very disturbing, so we'll issue a trigger warning now.
Former NHLer and fan favourite Jordan Tootoo released a book a few years ago about his journey from junior to the NHL and his battle with sobriety. In it, he discussed that 2003 tournament in Halifax and inadvertently admitted that players did sleep with multiple women during the tournament. He did not implicate himself or anyone on the team but in his book he says, "But frick, we were just kids back then. The shit that we did. We were horny young men. We were in Halifax and we had every goddamned girl hitting on us. What are you going to do? Let's start slaying these broads. And it wasn't just one-on one action. A few of the guys would get a couple of girls after practice and head into one of the rooms. Enough said."
There's no issues with anyone sleeping with anyone or more than one person, but there is an issue with how, when and if there was consent. The paragraph from Tootoo's book identifies clearly that there was and still very much is an issue with hockey culture and many players then and now think because they are playing or going to play in the NHL they can do what they want without consequences.
That excerpt doesn't go into those details, but a post from "mugnhl" on Instagram details some of the acts the team engaged in. Before reading, it is important to remember this has not been verified and the source is unknown.
The post reads, "The source works in the hockey industry and said the video began with a Team Canada player standing outside of a room, answering questions as if he were doing a pre- game interview with the person holding the camera, who is not identified. The player told the camera operator that viewers were about to see "a f-ing lamb roast," the three sources said. After the hallway interview, the camera was then carried into a room with a pool table, the source said. The video shows roughly a half-dozen players taking turns having sex with a woman who was non- responsive and lying face up on the pool table, the source said.Two sources said they watched the video on a VHS tape in an apartment in the spring of 2003."
If any of that is true, it is absolutely disgusting and appalling and Hockey Canada and law enforcement have some major work to do. Players from that team have already released statements saying they had no idea what was happening, but with reading the excerpt from Tootoo's book how are they not aware?
The hockey culture has a long, long way to go before it is cleaned up and this seems like it is just the beginning. It won't be long before we see more and more of these cases brought forward, implicating past and perhaps even present players.
