Lightning suspend Ian Cole after allegation surfaces of underage sexual assault and grooming

Content warning: This story includes subject matter related to sexual assault.

The Tampa Bay Lightning suspended defenseman Ian Cole on Sunday, approximately 48 hours after an anonymous and newly created social media account posted disturbing allegations that Cole groomed and sexually assaulted a woman while she was underage. The team suspended Cole with pay pending investigation, which was launched by the NHL on Sunday.

“The Tampa Bay Lightning is aware of the allegations against player Ian Cole and are cooperating fully with the NHL an on investigation,” the Lightning wrote in a statement. “Our organization takes these allegations very seriously. While we continue to gather more details, we have decided to suspend Ian Cole pending the results of an investigation. No members of the organization, including players, will comment further at this time.”

Cole denied the allegations in a statement issued by his agent, Kevin Magnuson, of KO Sports Inc. and said he looks forward to clearing his name.

“I take the allegations made against me in an anonymous tweet very seriously,” Cole’s statement read. “I completely deny these allegations and will fully cooperate with the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning, their officials and legal departments in the forthcoming investigation. I look forward to clearing my name and demonstrating to the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning that these allegations are unfounded. I will have no further comment until the NHL’s investigation concludes.”

The allegations surfaced on Friday afternoon after an account, posting with the name Emily Smith but acknowledged that she was doing so anonymously, detailed that she was allegedly of “grooming and emotional and sexual abuse” at the hands of Cole, beginning while she was in high school while Cole was playing in the NHL. There was no information provided in the post regarding timeline or when the alleged abuse may have occurred.

Ms. Smith tagged the Lightning and the NHL, along with news outlets, in her post, which quickly went viral. The post had generated more than 3,000 retweets by Sunday. It was the first and only post from the account, which was created last month, according to Twitter.

My statement on being groomed and sexually abused by Tampa Bay Lightning and NHL player Ian Cole. @TBLightning @NHL #tampabaylightning #Canes #NHL #IanCole pic.twitter.com/IJ438bhodt

— Emily Smith (@emily_smith3333) October 7, 2022

Cole, 33, was set to make his debut with the Lightning on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. The two-time Stanley Cup champion played last season with the Carolina Hurricanes and signed a one-year, $3 million deal in Tampa Bay on July 13. Cole is an Ann Arbor, Mich., native who played at the University of Notre Dame before making the jump to the NHL with the St. Louis Blues as a 21-year-old.

He has appeared in 670 career regular season games with the Blues, Penguins, Blue Jackets, Avalanche, Wild and Hurricanes. Cole is one of the players heading up the search committee for the next executive director for the NHL Players’ Association to replace Donald Fehr.