When he was younger, Wadane Sougoufara wanted to replicate everything his Ottawa Senators idols did, right down to choosing jersey numbers as his own.
“How they carried themselves off the ice, as well, was really big for me,” he said. Even between games, Sens players were his role models.
So like many other fans, Sougoufara was dismayed by testimony during the sexual assault trial of five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey championship team. Among the five charged, and acquitted, was former Senators player Alex Formenton.
The character that players have is definitely going to impact their communities. And every community, every society starts off with the youth.
Wadane Sougoufara, hockey fan and minor league referee
The Senators announced on Sept. 17 the team was parting ways with Formenton.
“We engaged in discussions with (Formenton’s) agent, and I think both sides agree that it would be best for everybody for a fresh start for Alex,” Steve Staios, the Senators’ general manager said.
The trial stemmed from an encounter in a hotel room with a woman in 2018. Detailed testimony and video were shared at trial about that evening’s events. In the end, all the accused were acquitted of sexual assault, with Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia saying she didn’t find the complainant’s evidence “credible or reliable.”
The Senators faced a decision following the NHL’s Sept. 11 announcement that the players will be eligible to sign with NHL teams starting on Oct. 15 and able to play in the league starting Dec. 1.
Formenton is playing with HC Ambri-Piotta, a professional team in Switzerland. His three-and-a-half month contract runs through an international break in December with an option to extend until the end of the 2025-26 season.
Fans have mixed views about the Senators decision on Formenton.
Sougoufara says, although he was initially disappointed to lose a player of Formenton’s calibre, he feels not re-signing him was the right move.
As a minor league referee for seven years, he thinks players’ conduct off the ice plays an important role for youth. “The character that players have is definitely going to impact their communities,” Sougoufara said. “And every community, every society starts off with the youth.”
Jules Wong, another Sens fan since childhood, agrees that NHL players are role models.
Wong said that after figure-skating at the same rink as hockey kids as a teenager and hearing comments there that she described as “rude and demeaning,” she fell out of love with hockey until recently coming back as a fan.
Referring to some of the behaviour the five players admitted during the trial, “it’s kind of irresponsible for them to be put back in the spotlight as role models for young kids,” Wong said.
“Like, these men’s names will be on the backs of kids-sized jerseys again in a couple of years. I find that kind of disgusting.”
Wong said she was “proud and surprised” by the Senators’ decision even if she’s unsure of the team’s motives.
“It just creates an uncomfortable situation for female fans,” she said. “The law says they (the players) can go back to leading normal lives. That’s fine. I just don’t think they should be playing for an NHL hockey team anymore.”
He was proved innocent, so why are they not having him back?
Joan Wiggins, Senators season ticket holder
Other fans like Joan Wiggins, who has been a Senators season ticket holder for 20 years, says the team’s decision should have aligned more closely with the court’s ruling.
“It’s not good,” she said. “He was proved innocent, so why are they not having him back?”
Wiggins said although Formenton may be out of game shape after missing more than a season of professional hockey in Europe, and not playing in the NHL since 2022, she feels the Senators should have at least let Formenton prove himself with the club’s AHL affiliate team.
William Hermanutz, an NHL fan who closely followed the Hockey Canada trial, says he believes it makes sense that the Sens did not re-sign Formenton.
“There would be a lot of negative media attention that would come with signing him again,” Hermanutz said. “I think the players shouldn’t play again, but also at the end of the day the players were found not guilty.”
Hermanutz also believes the NHL is avoiding a “fight” with the National Hockey League Players’ Association, since past issues with the NHLPA have led to lockouts. He speculates that Carter Hart will be the only one of the five to sign with an NHL team because of his “positional value.”
“He was actually pretty good when he was playing and got more meaningful playing time than the other guys,” Hermanutz said. “He’s also a goalie which … makes him extremely valuable because every team wants a good young goalie on a cheap contract.”
Bailey Reid, a senior adviser on gender and sexual violence prevention and support at Carleton University, believes that the outcome of the trial was “disappointing” and would have liked to see Staios use “stronger messaging” about not signing an acquitted player.
“Gender-based violence is an issue that a lot of people, particularly men and particularly athletes, are hesitant to talk about,” Reid said.
Reid also says the NHL teams have to think about the financial impact of choosing to sign or part ways with the players since fans who disagree with the trial outcome could boycott teams and events.
“That is something that we can always consider, and we have accountability available to us in that way,” Reid said.
And exactly as players are role models, those same elements of masculinity that make them role models are the same ones that can cause harm and abuse power in this way.
Bailey Reid, senior adviser on gender and sexual violence prevention at Carleton University
Reid says that the NHL needs to create a structure to influence players to avoid setting a dangerous example to their fans, where “players feel empowered to call one another out.”
“They need to create a structure where coaches feel like they can talk to their players about this, not when it’s just a crisis, but when they they want to make sure that they’re they’re emphasizing that point that players are role models and there are young men and young women who are looking to them to set an example,” Reid said.
According to Reid, pieces of toxic masculinity can often manifest in sport.
“When we think about high-performance sport and athletics, we’re often thinking about masculinity, and there are elements of masculinity that are healthy, and there are elements of masculinity that are toxic,” said Reid.
“And exactly as players are role models, those same elements of masculinity that make them role models are the same ones that can cause harm and abuse power in this way.”
