Carter Hart. Image via: Bruce Bennett/ Getty ImagesCarter Hart will remain barred from Hockey Canada programs through November 2027, even though a criminal court acquitted him of se*ual assault last year. An independent appeal board upheld that suspension on Wednesday, closing out a disciplinary process that ran separately from the courtroom case and outlasted it by more than a year.The ruling covers five players from Canada's 2018 World Junior team. Four remain suspended on staggered timelines, while a fifth was reinstated immediately. None of it affects their ability to play in the NHL, which conducted its own investigation and cleared all five to sign contracts again last year.What happens to Carter Hart now?Carter Hart, the Vegas Golden Knights goaltender, cannot participate in any Hockey Canada-sanctioned program until Nov. 10, 2027. That date falls just months before the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, the tournament's first edition since 2016, which sets up a real question about whether he could eventually wear the Maple Leaf again.His NHL path looks different. Hart signed a two-year, $4 million deal with Vegas last October and helped the Golden Knights reach the 2026 Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games. He posted a .909 save percentage and 2.56 goals-against average across 22 playoff appearances, numbers that outpaced every other Canadian goaltender in the postseason.Four players were acquitted in court, but their Hockey Canada suspensions remain in placeThe players, Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton, were accused of se*ually assaulting a woman in a London, Ontario hotel room in 2018. All five were acquitted in July 2025 after a judge found the accuser's testimony not credible. Hockey Canada's own investigation reached a different conclusion on conduct, and the appeal board upheld it this week.Formenton was reinstated immediately. Foote's suspension runs through November 2026, Hart's through 2027, Dube's through 2028, and McLeod's through 2030. Officials have not explained why the timelines differ. Any of the four will also face an enhanced screening process, including a third-party review of the original findings, before Hockey Canada would consider them for a future roster.Canada's secretary of sport, Adam van Koeverden, framed the case as a turning point for the sport. "This case started a national conversation about safe sport," he said following the ruling, pointing to reforms Hockey Canada has made since the allegations first surfaced.What Hart's 2028 World Cup eligibility could meanHart's on-ice case for a future recall is real. His regular-season numbers with Vegas last season were modest, an .891 save percentage over 18 starts, but he was working his way back after more than a year away from competitive hockey. The playoff run changed the conversation, and rival Canadian goaltenders like Colorado's Scott Wedgewood never matched his output.Selecting him would still be a hard call. The 2018 case drew national outrage, and Hockey Canada has spent years trying to rebuild trust through programs like Abuse Free Sport. The NHL, in its own July 2025 statement on the players, called their alleged conduct "unacceptable" even after the acquittals.Hart has kept his public comments focused on hockey rather than the case itself. "I'm just excited to move forward," he told reporters after signing with Vegas last fall.Whether that focus extends to a Team Canada jersey in 2028 depends on decisions Hockey Canada has not yet had to make.