As the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll on, the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial continues in London, Ontario. Former NHLers Dillon Dube, Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, and Cal Foote have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault stemming from an incident that occurred in a hotel after a celebration of their 2018 World Junior Championship gold medal. Golden Knights forward Brett Howden was on that team and was brought in virtually for questioning. Howden got emotional when questioned by the Hockey Canada trial lawyers, per Dan Robson of The Athletic.

“‘You’re scared of a number of things,'” Dube's lawyer Lisa Carnelos said to Howden, per Robson. “'You’re scared of your dad.'”

“Howden paused and appeared to choke up. ‘It was one of the hardest things to go through,' he said. Carnelos pressed further, asking about his girlfriend at the time. ‘That girlfriend was very important to you, right?' ‘Yes,' Howden said. ‘She’s my wife.' ‘You’ve just had your second child with her, correct?' Howden’s face grew red. ‘Yeah,' he said. ‘Congratulations,' Carnelos said. At that, Howden began to cry. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,' he said, composing himself after Carroccia asked him if he needed a moment.”

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This exchange happened after Howden revealed text messages he sent to teammate Taylor Raddysh, who was also questioned. Those texts explicitly outlined what Dube did with the complainant when Howden left the room. As the questioning continued, Howden was asked if he stood by those comments.

“For so long, I’ve been trying to move on past this and forget about it,” Howden said, per Robson. “I remember the gist of what happened that night, but it’s hard for me to go back in that time and remember it.” He continued, “I believe what I said back then. I was being honest.”

The Hockey Canada trial has been going on for five weeks and will continue.