Fans Chant at Carter Hart During Game 2 in Raleigh — Carter Hart Trial
Fans at Lenovo Center chanted “no means no” at Carter Hart during the carter hart trial storyline on Thursday night in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. The chants cut through a high-profile game and put the Vegas Golden Knights goalie back at the center of the controversy that followed him into the final.
The first chants came about seven minutes into the first period, with the puck in Carolina’s zone and Hart far from his crease. They were loud enough to be heard on the Sportsnet broadcast.
Lenovo Center and Carter Hart
The same taunt surfaced several times in Game 1 when Hart played the puck. That made Thursday’s reaction part of a pattern, not a one-off burst from the crowd.
Hart entered Game 2 with a.923 save percentage and had stopped 25 of 29 shots in Vegas’ 5-4 Game 1 win. He has started all 18 of the Golden Knights’ playoff games and won 13 of them.
Hart’s July 24 Verdict
The chant lands against a case that began in June 2018, when Hart and four other members of Canada’s 2018 World Juniors team were connected to an alleged sexual assault incident in a London, Ontario, hotel room. On July 24, 2025, the Ontario Superior Court acquitted Hart, Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote on sexual assault charges, but the NHL still suspended all five players after reinstatement for what it called “deeply troubling and unacceptable” behavior.
Hart was the most established player in the group when the NHL initially charged the players and ruled them ineligible in January 2024. The Philadelphia Flyers did not tender him a qualifying offer in the summer of 2024, and he became a free agent.
Hart’s Monday Comments
On Monday, Hart said, “I've learned a lot,” and, “I've grown a lot since then.” He also said, “And I've been able to meet a lot of good people in the community, and I think the Vegas Golden Knights Foundation has done a really good job of making it easy for me to integrate into the community and meet a lot of cool people and — just really fortunate to be here in Vegas.” A member of the Golden Knights’ communications team ended his availability immediately after that answer, after he spoke for approximately six minutes of a scheduled 15-minute block.
The chants in Raleigh now sit beside that answer from Monday: Hart is still playing the biggest games of the season, and the arena noise shows the off-ice case remains part of the way he is received on the ice.
