Brother of Oiler Granted Indefinite Leave of Absence
Michael McLeod, the brother of Ryan McLeod has been granted an indefinite leave of absence from the New Jersey Devils.
Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports - Brother of Oiler Granted Indefinite Leave of AbsenceEDMONTON -- Ryan McLeod and the Edmonton Oilers are on a 14 game winning streak, having won against the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1. After scoring in their win against the Calgary Flames he was held scoreless against the Blue Jackets last night in 12:54 of ice time, but did register one hit.
Earlier this morning Michael McLeod (Ryan's brother) and Cal Foote were granted an indefinite leave of absence from the New Jersey Devils. Several Devils beat writers - including The Hockey News' own Kristy Flannery - reported that both players were not on the ice for practice this morning.
This is certainly fascinating timing given a report that came out earlier this morning from Robyn Doolittle of The Globe and Mail. The article is unfortunately behind a paywall. However, Rick Westhead of The Sports Network posted on X (Twitter) that five members of Team Canada's 2018 World Junior team were told to surrender to the London, Ontario police to face charges of sexual assault - citing Doolittle as the source of this report.
He also mentioned that the players haven't been charged yet, and also need to report to the London police headquarters within a set period of time. You can see the tweet for yourself below.
In the past few days Dillion Dube and Carter Hart have also taken a leave of absence from their respective teams. Alex Formenton, currently playing in Switzerland, was granted a leave of absence from his team and allowed to travel back to Canada.
Westhead contacted Alison Craig - a Toronto attorney who has no ties to this particular investigation, but has defended other people who were accused of sexual assault - who said, "it would be customary in a case where there is no public danger for prospective defendants to be given at least a week or two to surrender to police."
At this point in time nothing has been officially confirmed. Again, charges have not been laid, London police are simply requesting the presence of the five players.
All five of these players were members of team Canada's 2018 World Junior team. It's an incredible coincidence if none of these players who have taken a leave of absence are involved.
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