About this site

carterhart.com is an independent, noncommercial commentary and activism project from Game Misconducts. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Carter Hart, his representatives, the Vegas Golden Knights, or the NHL. This site reports court records and public documents, and publishes clearly labeled opinion and satire. Carter Hart is one of five players acquitted of all charges on July 24, 2025.

carterhart.com

CONTENT WARNING This page discusses sexual violence, hazing and abuse in detail.

How can you help?

Sign the petition, volunteer your time, share the record, and find support for yourself and/or others. Pick a way to show up below, then help spread the word.

Last updated: October 27, 2026

What we want, and why

We want one thing, and it is specific: a collectively bargained domestic violence and sexual assault policy in the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, with defined minimum penalties, mandatory investigation, survivor provisions, and neutral, independent appeals, applied by a binding standard rather than commissioner discretion.

OFFICIAL ABUSE POLICY NOW!

A petition from Ontario Says No More, led by SOAR Initiative Canada, asks the NHL and the NHLPA for a survivor-centered policy on sexual violence, domestic violence and child abuse, with independent reporting and investigation, support services, mandatory training, public reporting and a joint policy committee.

Sign the petition for an NHL abuse policy (opens in a new tab)

Minimum penalties are this site’s position, not the petition’s.

Petition by Ontario Says No More, led by SOAR Initiative Canada, hosted on change.org. Game Misconducts is not affiliated with SOAR or this petition and did not write it.

The NHL is the only one of the four without one

The NFL (opens in a new tab), MLB (opens in a new tab), and the NBA (opens in a new tab) each have a written domestic violence and sexual assault policy. The NHL’s collective bargaining agreement contains none. The league handles every case individually, under Article 18-A of the collective bargaining agreement in force in July 2025, which empowered the Commissioner to discipline conduct he decides is detrimental to or against the welfare of the League or the game of hockey. There is no published standard, no mandatory trigger, and no consistent minimum penalty.

NFLPersonal Conduct Policy (opens in a new tab)
MLBJoint DV, SA and Child Abuse Policy (opens in a new tab)
NBAJoint NBA-NBPA Policy (Exhibit F) (opens in a new tab)
NHLNo written policy

Here’s what the league said in September 2025

From the NHL’s statement:

In September 2025, the NHL announced the reinstatement of five players who had been acquitted of sexual assault, setting a timeline that brought their total time away from the league to nearly two years. In that same statement the league called the events “deeply troubling and unacceptable,” said it expects everyone connected with the game to conduct themselves with “the highest level of moral integrity,” and concluded that in this case, while the players were acquitted, their conduct certainly did not meet that standard. The NHL also wrote: “Each of the players, based on in-person meetings with the League following the verdicts, expressed regret and remorse for his actions. Nevertheless, we believe their conduct requires formal League-imposed discipline.”

Source: NHL statement, September 11, 2025 (opens in a new tab)

At the NHL All-Star weekend in early February 2024, days after the five were charged, Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league has a domestic violence and sexual assault policy, The Philadelphia Inquirer (opens in a new tab) reported. Asked about it, an NHL spokesperson pointed the Inquirer to Bettman’s words from 2021: “We do have a sexual misconduct policy. We don’t tolerate it. And we punish as appropriate.” Article 18-A, the clause on Commissioner discipline for off-ice conduct in the CBA in force in July 2025, let the Commissioner suspend or expel a player, cancel his contract, or fine him for conduct he decided was “detrimental to or against the welfare of the League or the game of hockey.” That was the whole standard. It never uses the words “sexual assault” or “domestic violence,” and it sets no minimum penalty. Whether conduct qualifies, and what it costs, is the Commissioner’s call.

So we are asking the NHL for two definitions.

Define the ceiling.

What conduct meets “the highest level of moral integrity”? By what process is it measured, and who measures it?

Define the floor.

What is the lowest conduct the NHL will accept from a player and still let him sign and play?

Sources for this section

Show up for the work.

Answer a crisis line, walk a survivor through court, change the culture in your own locker room, or put the record in front of the people who follow the game. Here is where to start, in the US and Canada.

Ways to show up

  • Crisis line

    Train for the crisis line

    RAINN and local centers train volunteers to answer the phone and online-chat lines. A few hours of training, then real shifts.

    Apply via RAINN (opens in a new tab)
  • Court and ER companion

    Be a hospital or court companion

    Survivors who report often face the ER and the courtroom alone. Trained advocates go with them. Centers are always short of companions.

    Find a center (opens in a new tab)
  • Bystander training

    Change the room you’re already in

    Most of what a team decides is normal gets decided in group chats and locker rooms. Bystander training gives you the words to be the one who questions it. Bring it to your league, team or beer-league chat.

    Learn to step in (opens in a new tab)
  • Share the record

    Put the record in front of fans

    Send the documented timeline to someone who follows the game. Culture changes when the people inside it stop looking away.

    Open the case
  • Listen

    Hear the case from survivors

    Canadian True Crime’s five-part series walks through the trial using the judge’s written decision (2025 ONSC 4319) and trial reporting. Host Kristi Lee is joined by survivors J.B. and Kelly Favro.

    Listen to the series (opens in a new tab)
  • Beyond the Verdict

    Back a survivor-led group

    Beyond the Verdict is a grassroots group co-founded by survivors Kelly Favro and J.B., with Canadian True Crime host Kristi Lee. It works to change the rape myths and courtroom tactics that put survivors on trial. You can follow them, share their work, or chip in.

    Visit Beyond the Verdict (opens in a new tab)

Test yourself: the group-chat self-check.

Change it before it starts

  • For coaches

    Run the program built for locker rooms

    Coaching Boys Into Men is a prevention program built for coaches and male athletes, about fifteen minutes a week across a season. In a randomized controlled trial at 16 California high schools, athletes whose coaches ran it reported less abuse perpetration a year later than athletes whose coaches did not (Miller et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2013). If your kid has a coach, your kid’s coach can run this.

    Get the coach’s kit (opens in a new tab)
  • For parents

    Raise a son who understands consent

    Equimundo’s free parent guide, “9 Tips for Parents: Raising Sons to Embrace Healthy, Positive Masculinity,” is plain, evidence-backed, and short. It is about the part no hockey handbook covers.

    Read the guide (opens in a new tab)
  • For parents, Canada

    Canadian parents and educators

    Next Gen Men is a Canadian nonprofit that works on exactly this, the norms underneath “man up” and “don’t be soft.” Free resources for the adults raising boys, north of the border.

    See their resources (opens in a new tab)
  • For parents, US

    The U.S. Center for SafeSport’s free parent course

    The U.S. Center for SafeSport’s free thirty-minute “Parent’s Guide to Misconduct in Sports” covers abuse, hazing, and locker-room supervision. Useful and on official letterhead, with one honest limit, noted below.

    Take the free course (opens in a new tab)

Game Misconducts is in no way affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with any of the organizations or resources listed here. We point to them because they do the work, and we are grateful for it.

Free, confidential support

Lines last reviewed June 2026; national Canadian lines added October 2026.

National

  • 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis HelplineCall or text 9-8-8, 24/7, English and French9-8-8
  • Kids Help PhoneOr text 686868, 24/71-800-668-6868
  • Hope for Wellness Help LineFor Indigenous people, 24/71-855-242-3310

Ontario

Find a local center

Lines last reviewed June 2026; national Canadian lines added October 2026.

Emergency 911US Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673Ontario: Assaulted Women’s Helpline 1-866-863-0511Elsewhere in Canada: find a line in your province