Quebec junior hockey league investigating 1990s sexual hazing allegations

WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League says it is already investigating sexual allegations detailed in a La Presse story on Monday.

In the article, former player Carl Latulippe described his experience as a rookie who was hazed by veterans with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens during the 1994-95 season.

Latulippe recounted incidents of veterans using towels wrapped around soap bars to hit rookies, and of veterans allegedly demanding rookies to undress and masturbate on the team bus. Another Sagueneens player from that season who was not identified in the article corroborated Latulippe's recounting of the events.

Latulippe, Chicoutimi's first-round pick in the 1994 QMJHL draft, played six games with the Sagueneens before leaving the team.

Interim league commissioner Martin Lavallee told the Quebec legislature on March 21 that sexual allegations from the 1990s had come to his attention and that the league was investigating.

Longtime QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau announced his retirement in March after testifying on hazing rituals in hockey at provincial legislature hearings in February.

The league has since hired former Montreal Alouettes president Mario Cecchini as its incoming commissioner. He will begin his tenure May 8.

Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.