Former Vancouver Canuck Jake Virtanen testifies at B.C. sexual assault trial

Former Vancouver Canuck Jake Virtanen has taken the stand at his British Columbia Supreme Court trial, after his defence lawyer cross-examined the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2017.

Virtanen told the jury trial he met the woman when he was 20 years old and she was 18 at the Calgary Stampede in 2017, and they stayed in touch over Instagram and text messages throughout that summer when they both returned to B.C.

He testified that he was not adamant or insistent that he and the woman meet on the night of the alleged assault in his downtown Vancouver hotel room, though he had told her he would be busy with Canucks commitments for the rest of the week.

Virtanen told the court the woman did not raise any concerns after he picked her up from the friend’s house where she was staying during a visit to the city, and drove with her back to his hotel.

The woman, whose name is protected by a publication ban, has testified that she repeatedly said “no” before Virtanen allegedly sexually assaulted her that night.

Virtanen, who is now 25, was charged with one count of sexual assault in January following an investigation by Vancouver police.

The Crown has finished calling evidence in the trial.

During cross-examination earlier Thursday, Virtanen’s defence lawyer Brock Martland asked the woman why she attended a pre-season game between the Canucks and Calgary Flames two days after the night of the alleged assault.

She agreed that the incident she had described was an “aggressive rape,” which was traumatic for her, and that she didn’t want to see Virtanen afterwards.

She told the jury trial she went to the game with her friend because she had always wanted to attend a professional game, having played sports throughout her life.

The 23-year-old woman also testified she hadn’t yet fully processed what had happened and she was texting Virtanen as if everything was normal because she wanted to pretend the alleged assault hadn’t occurred.

The woman did not go to police in September 2017.

In April 2021, she posted her story to an Instagram page for survivors of sexual assault, then spoke with a reporter from Glacier Media for a newspaper story, naming Virtanen as the man who allegedly sexually assaulted her.

Martland homed in Thursday on messages she exchanged with that page.

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He showed her a screen-capture image of a message where she referred to “rumours” about what had happened, saying “It was just looked at as, ‘Oh, (she) slept with an NHL player,’ like it was a good thing that I should feel proud of, and I was left questioning if it was even considered an assault because of his position in hockey.”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Over the years, I did say that I doubted myself because of people not believing me.”

Martland showed the woman another message where she said people were making “harsh” comments about Virtanen online after his name was associated with her allegation, and she was concerned it could lead to violence toward him.

“I obviously don’t like him for what he did, but I wouldn’t want to wish violence upon him,” she testified in response.

“I did want him penalized, I did want him held accountable, and even when I went to the police initially I felt a little bit uncomfortable about, you know, having someone charged and essentially running their life,” she said.

“But at the same time, he didn’t even skip a beat when he violated me.”

The Canucks placed Virtanen on leave in May 2021 after the sexual assault allegation was made public, and bought out his contract the following month. He last played in the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League.

During cross-examination earlier this week, Martland argued that a sexual encounter between the woman and Virtanen was consensual.

He suggested she could have offered up an excuse for why she couldn’t have sex, like saying she was menstruating or she had a yeast infection.

“I thought saying ‘No, I don’t want to do this. I seriously don’t want to do this,’ holding my hands on his hips, pushing him off me, was enough,” she replied.

Before wrapping up his cross-examination on Thursday, Martland apologized for the question about why she had not offered an excuse, calling it insensitive.