Capitals’ Taylor Raddysh gives testimony in the Hockey Canada trial

Capitals' Taylor Raddysh gives testimony in the Hockey Canada trial regarding messages from 'that night in London.'

LONDON, Ont. — On Wednesday, Taylor Raddysh provided testimony in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial, discussing text messages exchanged with Michael McLeod, one of the five defendants.

In a message sent during the early hours of June 19, 2018, McLeod invited Raddysh to his room, suggesting sexual activity. McLeod, along with Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé, and Cal Foote, faces sexual assault accusations related to an alleged incident involving a 20-year-old woman who claims she was assaulted by multiple players in a hotel room in London, Ont., in June 2018.
The players were in town for a Hockey Canada event celebrating their World Junior Championship victory. All five defendants pleaded not guilty when arraigned in Ontario Superior Court last week. Now a player for the Washington Capitals, Raddysh testified remotely from the team's facility in Arlington, Va., just hours before his team was scheduled to play Game 5 of their first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player from the 2018 roster to take the stand in this trial. When asked about the dynamics of the 2018 World Juniors team, Raddysh stated, "We got along fairly well. It's a fun tournament to be part of, and as a kid, you really aspire to be on that team. It's an honor." After identifying Dubé as the team captain, Raddysh was questioned about the role of the captain off the ice. "Just a leader," he responded. "Someone who leads by example and helps bring the group together." Raddysh appeared visibly nervous as he answered questions from Crown Attorney Meaghan Cunningham regarding the events of June 18 into the early hours of June 19, 2018. He frequently mentioned his inability to recall specific details, indicating that reviewing previous statements to investigators would not aid in refreshing his memory. He admitted that he did not remember returning to the hotel that night and was uncertain about his interactions with others upon his arrival. He noted, however, that during an August 2022 police interview, he mentioned that both McLeod and Boris Katchouk had knocked on his hotel room door. Raddysh recalled going to McLeod's room, where he remembered seeing McLeod, Katchouk, and "a woman." He stated he was "pretty sure" she was on the bed when he entered but could not confirm her state of dress, her position, or any dialogue. Despite these lapses in memory, Raddysh recounted specific details about his text exchanges with McLeod and a group chat involving 19 members of the 2018 World Juniors team. Raddysh testified that he was among those who received a text message from McLeod at 2:10 a.m. that read: "who wants to be in 3 way quick 209-mikey." He also identified that Carter Hart responded at 2:19 a.m. with "I'm in." Before Hart's reply, McLeod sent Raddysh two messages at 2:15 a.m.: "Come to my room" and "If u want a gummer." Raddysh admitted to not recalling when he first saw these messages and confirmed that he understood "gummer" to refer to oral sex but did not respond to McLeod's texts. Jurors were shown screenshots of the text messages that Raddysh had captured. Earlier in the day, London Police detective Tiffany Waque continued her testimony, displaying several surveillance videos and footage from players during the night of the alleged incident.
These videos depicted the complainant dancing in a crowded area at Jack's Bar, near McLeod. Shortly thereafter, Dubé approached and began dancing with her, appearing to place his arm around her, while McLeod danced behind her. Subsequently, as McLeod and the complainant danced, Brett Howden was seen moving in closely behind her, dancing with his hands raised. The footage showed McLeod reaching an arm around Howden's shoulders in an apparent embrace.
Katie strang and Don Robson