During the first period of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday, Hurricanes fans broke out into a chant: “No means no.” The target was Carter Hart, the starting goalie for the opposing Golden Knights.
Hart is among the so-called “Hockey Canada 5,” a group of Canadian players on the 2018 World Junior Championship team. The five were accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a London, Ontario, hotel room following an event celebrating their gold medal. In July 2025, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled the five former NHL players were not guilty as she did not find the testimony of the plaintiff “credible or reliable.”
The shadow of the trial has followed Hart into Vegas’s deep playoff run. The goalie is the only player of the group of five who signed an NHL contract in the wake of the acquittal.
The Golden Knights have mostly protected Hart from scrutiny throughout both the playoffs and in the regular season. In a Monday press conference in advance of the Stanley Cup Final, The Athletic reported that Hart’s media availability was cut short after a question from the outlet that referenced the trial.
Tuesday, Carolina fans loudly booed the announcement of Hart’s name at the beginning of the game.
