Just three days before opening night, the Tampa Bay Lightning suspended Ian Cole due to anonymous accusations against him about assaulting a minor. Then six days later, the NHL released a statement saying that they “found no evidence against Ian Cole in sexual abuse probe”.  

There was quite a scare for the community of fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ian Cole, an NHL veteran traded to Tampa was heavily accused of sexual assault and suspended from playing until the NHL called the investigations off due to a lack of evidence. 

When the allegations against Ian Cole became widely known by the public, he was suspended by the Tampa Bay Lightning quickly after. The Tampa Bay Lightning officially released a statement  following the NHL’s statement closing the matter, “The organization takes these accusations very seriously and supports the conclusion from the NHL investigation”. 

Tampa Bay Times Writer, Eduardo A. Encina  shared that Ian Cole said, “I’m grateful for the opportunity to refute the anonymous allegations made against me which I categorically deny”. Ian Cole is a great hockey player, and it was very upsetting for many to see this happen to him. For some that knew him it was outrageous that people could even believe he could do something like that. 

Ian Cole, a 33-year-old 13-year NHL veteran born in Ann Arbor Michigan who played for many teams such as the St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, Carolina Hurricanes, and The Tampa Bay Lightning.  

After these accusations came out, the NHL started their investigations and according to Writer for Fox News, Ryan Gaydos “The Lightning said the team was fully cooperating with the NHL in an investigation and is making the decision to suspend Cole as it gathers more details.” 

During this whole time Ian Cole and the Lightning knew he did no wrong but they still cooperated. 

On what Ian Cole had to say about all this, ESPN writer Greg Wyshynski tells that “Cole, in a statement released through his agent, Kevin Magnuson, said he “completely” denies the allegations and will cooperate with the league, the team and their legal departments in the forthcoming investigation.” 

In early October these investigations started, this was just before the opening game of the Tampa Bay Lightning 2022-2023 season.  

A statement from the NHL  tells that “The investigation of the allegations, which were made anonymously in a social media post on Oct. 7, was conducted by the League’s Security and Legal departments.”  

The investigations were then called off and ended a few days later by the NHL. A statement from the NHL tells us that they “found no evidence to substantiate the allegations.” 

After this the Lightning unsuspended Ian Cole and he is resuming his NHL career with the Tampa Bay Lightning