WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Former junior hockey coach and convicted sex offender Graham James has pleaded guilty to sexual assaults involving two of his former players, including NHL star Theo Fleury.

The move marks another chapter in what has become one of Canadian hockey's darkest stories.

James entered the plea in a Winnipeg courtroom Wednesday via video link from Montreal.

The disgraced coach was originally facing nine charges of sexual assault involving three players spanning 1979 to 1994, but only pleaded guilty to charges involving two. The names of the two other players are protected under a court-ordered publication ban.

James, who has been out on bail for almost a year and living in Montreal, will appear in Winnipeg in February to be sentenced.