{"id":898503,"date":"2026-09-20T04:10:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T04:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/898503\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T04:10:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T04:10:27","slug":"fans-have-pleaded-protesters-against-formenton-gather-before-oilers-home-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/898503\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Fans have pleaded’: Protesters against Formenton gather before Oilers home game"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDMONTON \u2014 Dozens of protesters chanted \u201cno means no\u201d and \u201cdrunk isn\u2019t consent\u201d outside Rogers Place arena ahead of the Edmonton Oilers<\/a>\u2019 first home game on Saturday, which featured the team\u2019s controversial new forward Alex Formenton.<\/p>\n

Protesters held signs with messages such as \u201cBelieve Survivors\u201d as fans streamed in, renewing calls for the Oilers to reverse their Sept. 9 signing of Formenton.<\/p>\n

He is one of five former members of Canada\u2019s world junior team who were acquitted last year of sexual assault charges stemming from an encounter with a woman in a hotel room after a Hockey Canada gala in London, Ont., in 2018.<\/p>\n

Jaclyn Prouse took part in Saturday\u2019s demonstration. She said the case shone a light on the dark side of Canada\u2019s hockey culture and for the first time she would not be supporting her hometown team because of Formenton.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been an Oilers fan my whole life, I\u2019ve lived in Edmonton my whole life, and so it\u2019s really unfortunate and heartbreaking to see the decisions that are being made by this team and the organization itself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important that we have some accountability here today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oilers superfan Mary Loewen, known as \u201cMama Stanley,\u201d whose petition against Formenton has garnered nearly 70,000 signatures, said sexual assault survivors and women in general feel ignored and betrayed by the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am Mama Stanley but before anything else, I am a survivor,\u201d she said Saturday, dressed in her signature silvery makeup and attire to mimic the Stanley Cup, complete with a tinsel wig and cup-like crown on her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cFans have pleaded with the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> to listen and this organization has chosen to move forward as though our voices do not matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutors had argued during the players\u2019 trial that the woman in the London, Ont., hotel room did not voluntarily consent to the sexual activity that took place, and the players did not take reasonable steps to confirm whether she consented.<\/p>\n

Lesley Mutschke, another protester, said she shed tears when she heard the team she had supported most of her life signed Formenton.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart is quite broken,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI firmly believe that survivors should always be believed.\u201d\u2028<\/p>\n

The Oilers have defended the signing. <\/p>\n

Edmonton general manager Stan Bowman has said he respects that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but the Oilers did their due diligence before signing Formenton to a one-year, US$850,000 contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of conversations with Alex,\u201d Bowman said on Wednesday. \u201cHe\u2019s grown a lot in the intervening years from where he was then to where he is now. He\u2019s shown that growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loewen\u2019s isn\u2019t the only petition related to Formenton. Another aimed at showing support for the Oilers and its forward has received more than 2,500 signatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cRespect the verdict,\u201d said the message attached to the petition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe presumption of innocence is one of the foundations of the Canadian justice system. It exists precisely because accusations can permanently affect a person\u2019s reputation, livelihood and future long before guilt has ever been established,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupporting the Edmonton Oilers<\/a>\u2019 decision to sign Alex Formenton does not require anyone to minimize sexual assault.\u201d<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2026.<\/p>\n

Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDMONTON \u2014 Dozens of protesters chanted \u201cno means no\u201d and \u201cdrunk isn\u2019t consent\u201d outside Rogers Place arena ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,7812,575,140021,85],"class_list":["post-898503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-justice","tag-nhl","tag-prairies-bc","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}