Flyers

Hockey Canada Scandal: Carter Hart Testifies That He Was “Open to Sexual Encounters,” but Contact with Alleged Victim was Consensual

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: May 29th, 2025 · 1:53 PM EDT

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The big story up north is the Hockey Canada trial, the sexual assault case involving former Flyer Carter Hart. It hasn’t gotten much discussion in Philadelphia, nor has anything related to the local hockey team, but Hart took the stand Thursday in his own defense and TSN Senior Correspondent Rick Westhead transcribed some of the proceeding:

Hart’s testimony came after Michael McLeod declined the opportunity to testify in the case.

The court has heard testimony that McLeod sent a group text message to all of the Team Canada players at 2:10 a.m. that morning that said “Who is up for a 3 way quick… 209-mikey”

Hart testified McLeod also phoned him to invite him to his room.

“The gist was Mike was with a girl back at the hotel who wanted to have sex with some of the boys,” Hart testified about the call. “I was open to sexual encounters. As a single guy, I was having a good time that weekend. I was open to it.”

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Hart testified that his first memory of E.M. (the alleged victim) in the room was seeing her laying on the floor masturbating in front of seven players.

“She seemed to be enjoying it,” Hart testified. “She seemed to be enjoying that players were watching her do that. I remember her moaning.”

“How were you feeling?” Hart’s lawyer, Megan Savard, asked.

“Pretty excited,” Hart answered. “I’m 19 years old and there’s a naked girl in the room doing these things willingly. It was something I’d never seen before.”

Hart testified that E.M. then asked the players to have sex with her.

Hart further testified that he received oral sex for between 30 to 60 seconds, but was unable to get fully erect and had had a lot to drink. He also said that he texted teammate Dante Fabbro and told him to come to room because Fabbro was one of the few players on the team that was single at the time. Fabbro did not end up going to the room, while Hart recalled being there for an hour and that the alleged victim, known as “E.M.” during these proceedings, was willingly engaging in sex acts with the players.

A CBC running thread of the proceedings quotes Hart saying this:

I remember getting a phone call while I was outside,” Hart tells (lawyer Megan) Savard. “I don’t remember the exact details word for word, but the gist was that Mike was with a girl back at the hotel who wanted to have sex with some of the boys — boys being my teammates.

Prosecutors wrapped up their case on Thursday morning, so the trial is moving forward and getting closer to completion. That means people are starting to wonder if Hart could ever return to the Flyers, should the players be found innocent in the case. You skim social media and see people start to throw out references to Duke Lacrosse and Matt Araiza but we’re not there yet. No ruling has been passed down. And even if Hart is cleared, you’ll have people asking if he made a poor judgment call to put himself in that position in the first place. Does the Flyers organization share that sentiment? What would the backlash look like if he did return? Furthermore, would Hart even come back to Philadelphia, or look elsewhere? He was a restricted free agent last summer and was not tendered a qualifying offer.

That’s a basic overview of where we’re at now. The players are saying that everything was consensual, while E.M. alleges that she had consensual sex with Michael McLeod, but was then sexually assaulted by the rest of the group.