The University of Ottawa says its varsity hockey team is preparing to hit the ice again this fall, two years after the program was suspended in connection with a sexual assault investigation.
Spokeswoman Isabelle Mailloux Pulkinghorn says the team began its training camp last Monday and will be finalizing its roster after open tryouts this weekend.
The university laid out its plans for the program's relaunch last summer, when it announced the hiring of Patrick Grandmaitre as the new head coach. Grandmaitre previously headed the hockey program at Collège Nouvelles-Frontières in nearby Gatineau, Que.
Last month, the university said former NHL draft pick Ryan Lauzon would come on board as assistant coach, replacing the outgoing assistant, Jean-Francois Lavergne.
It said Lauzon, 35, was a fourth-round draft pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in 1999 and spent four seasons in minor-pro hockey.
Mailloux Pulkinhorn says Grandmaitre has recruited 21 players so far, five of whom are coming from the Ontario Hockey League or the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
"We are feeling very positive about the progress and the team," she said in an email, adding the first exhibition game is scheduled for Sept. 14, with the regular season starting on Oct. 7.
The university suspended it's men's varsity program in 2014 after police in Thunder Bay, Ont., charged two players with sexual assault in connection with an incident involving a 21-year-old woman during a road trip in February of that year.
The team was initially suspended for the remainder of the 2013-14 season, but the program was later put on hold through 2015-16.
Following the initial suspension of the team, the school launched an internal investigation and said it would implement new behaviour guidelines.
The results of the university's internal investigation into the team were not made public two years ago but did prompt the university to fire the team's head coach, Real Paiement.
The university said the coach was not involved in the misconduct but should have notified authorities about the allegations.
A class-action lawsuit over the team's suspension was launched against the university and its president on behalf of 22 players who allege their reputations have been tarnished.
