Two podcast hosts discuss the controversial sexual assault case involving NHL player Carter Hart. They provide a detailed timeline of the allegations, the lawsuit, Hockey Canada's controversial settlement, the criminal charges, and Hart's eventual acquittal and return to the NHL, while offering commentary on how the case affects their fandom and the importance of accountability in sports.
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For many fans of the NHL, this year's Stanley Cup Final between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes is about a lot more than what happens on the ice.
The current Vegas Golden Knights goalie, Carter Hart, won with Hockey Canada in the 2018 World Junior Championship. The team commemorated the win months later. And after the celebration, a woman alleged he and several other Canadian hockey players sexually assaulted her.
Hart and four others from one of five players from Canada's 2018 world junior team were charged with sexual assault in 2024 and were acquitted the following year. Yet the story continues to shape conversations around how some fans experience the moment.
@sportsish founder and lifelong hockey fan Lily Shimbashi joins Well Played to talk about the details of the case, why women's perspectives belong in men’s sports, and how fans can love the game – and still want better for it.
Listen to Well Played at the link in bio, or on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Transcript
How is everybody not talking about this story? I know a lot of women who are like, I just don't wanna watch the Stanley Cup finals, and I get that perspective. The Vegas Golden Knights goaltender, Carter Hart, was part of five players who went on trial for sexual assault, and it's just hard to root for someone after reading the details of the trial. Hart was ultimately acquitted, but the details of the story are as follows. In 2018, Hockey Canada team members celebrated the Worse Junior Championship. Woman alleged that several members of the team, including Better Hart, sexually assaulted her. She ended up filing a lawsuit in tier against Hockey Canada, and then Hockey Canada settled that case using funds from something called the National Equity Fund, which used player registration fees to settle sexual assault cases. Then in 2024, Carter Hart and four other players were formally charged with sexual assault. Hart took a leave of absence, so he was playing for the Flyers at the time. In July 2025, an Ontario judge acquitted Hart and the other players, And then he joined the roster for the Vegas Golden Knights just in October, and now he's, like, a key player of the team. I feel like it stains this run that they're having. Yeah. This is also just showing why it's so important to have female fans of sports because Yeah. Do we think realistically this is behavior that men would call out? No. The Vegas Golden Knights still ended up taking this guy on their roster. I'm not gonna let those guys, particularly this one bad apple, take away my love of hockey. Yeah. And I'm going to watch, but I'm going to put every single ounce of my energy into the Carolina Hurricanes. Part of being a fan is just trying to make the sport that you love so much better. Exactly.
