Ian Cole suspended By Lightning

[2014olympicgold]

I don’t think it’s wrong to be cautious however it just seems hasty. I mean as an Edmonton fan when we play Calgary can I post something about huberdeau so he gets team suspended? I mean it is setting a precedent that is going to get a lot of people sidelined for baseless accusations. That’s in part why I want to know if the NHL or Tampa knows some other info which I feel they must to take this action, and if anyone has read that perhaps a former teammate confirmed this or coach or whoever. I don’t like the direction this is headed if baseless accusations can ruin a persons name/reputation/career (not that Cole had a great reputation).

Holding Cole out a few games to determine if a claim that he groomed a women under 18 for sexual reasons is:
1. A big claim, where if we see this happen more and more, it'll change how it's approached
2. The right thing to do as this is a claim that Cole groomed and sexually assaulted a minor.

This is the debate of "right thing to do" vs "but in the name of winning" that got Chicago in trouble. I think it's the right direction to go since look at all the "look the other way" failed hard. Or when the Panthers allowed Joel Quenneville to coach a game, then he's let go the next day (I think). It's far easier to hold the person out, do your investigation, then deliver the punishment.

As for "has there been a third party confirming this?", google says no (as far as public knowledge). The NHL conducted an interview with him yesterday. Came out that if the NHL wants to know more info on the user that posted the tweet, they'd need to subpoena Twitter for the info. If he's held out for a long period of time, the NHLPA will likely file a grievance.

[2014olympicgold]

There's reddit users saying some stories about how their female friend at 18yrs old bragged about being a friend of Ian Cole's, or stories about meeting him at the bar and getting a bad feeling about him. I'm sure there's others out there that will say a story publicly. However, it's only an issue if it's a circumstance that this "Emily Smith" twitter user describes, and who knows how many victims are out there, or even consider themselves victims (if that makes sense).

There's never 1 victim in these things though. If 2017 onwards has taught me anything, it's that there's never 1 victim.

[DangerCat]

Not by any means should they turn a blind eye. I think the team and the NHL must investigate the claim. I just think holding him out is a bit quick. And I guarantee if this accusation was made against McDavid this wouldn’t be the course of action(team suspension) and to be honest it shouldn’t be unless of course there’s some solid basis for said accusations. For all we know this could be Cole’s wife getting back at him. (Unlikely but again with an anonymous post, mainly vague details about pretty well everything, this seems like more an attempt to slander his name than actually have justice served.) This woman if this is genuine needs to go to the police for if he did this I do want him to be prosecuted for this would be a disgusting thing to do. But without any evidence anybody can accuse anybody of anything and the accusation will stand and that’s a very dangerous place to have a society move to. (See communism)

[2014olympicgold]

Not by any means should they turn a blind eye. I think the team and the NHL must investigate the claim. I just think holding him out is a bit quick. And I guarantee if this accusation was made against McDavid this wouldn’t be the course of action(team suspension) and to be honest it shouldn’t be unless of course there’s some solid basis for said accusations. For all we know this could be Cole’s wife getting back at him. (Unlikely but again with an anonymous post, mainly vague details about pretty well everything, this seems like more an attempt to slander his name than actually have justice served.) This woman if this is genuine needs to go to the police for if he did this I do want him to be prosecuted for this would be a disgusting thing to do. But without any evidence anybody can accuse anybody of anything and the accusation will stand and that’s a very dangerous place to have a society move to. (See communism)

I now see I just wasted my time.

[saucelife90]

Not by any means should they turn a blind eye. I think the team and the NHL must investigate the claim. I just think holding him out is a bit quick. And I guarantee if this accusation was made against McDavid this wouldn’t be the course of action(team suspension) and to be honest it shouldn’t be unless of course there’s some solid basis for said accusations. For all we know this could be Cole’s wife getting back at him. (Unlikely but again with an anonymous post, mainly vague details about pretty well everything, this seems like more an attempt to slander his name than actually have justice served.) This woman if this is genuine needs to go to the police for if he did this I do want him to be prosecuted for this would be a disgusting thing to do. But without any evidence anybody can accuse anybody of anything and the accusation will stand and that’s a very dangerous place to have a society move to. (See communism)

Exactly. It's not like we're talking about an actual person's twitter account who posted this. It's a random account created last month, following 0 people, with no other posts....

[DangerCat]

I now see I just wasted my time.

So you think it is ok to blacklist people on baseless accusations? I see I’m wasting my time also.

[Grin]

This woman if this is genuine needs to go to the police for if he did this I do want him to be prosecuted for this would be a disgusting thing to do. But without any evidence anybody can accuse anybody of anything and the accusation will stand and that’s a very dangerous place to have a society move to. (See communism)

That's not the definition of communism, sir.

[Axeman33]

So you think it is ok to blacklist people on baseless accusations? I see I’m wasting my time also.

Isn't that today's society though?

[Rylant]

For me, as shitty as it is, no team should ever punish someone on their team for cheating on their spouse. It's a pretty horrible thing to do, but it's not illegal and I would imagine that professional sports figures cheat on their spouses at a pretty alarming rate.

Any form of sexual assault or anything sexual involving a minor, really needs to be taken seriously. I think as we have seen, the culture surrounding many sporting organizations is appalling and far too many people have been gang raped and assaulted and many of those instances have been covered up by top members of those same organizations. It's horrific. While it sucks that Cole could be suspended without due process, something needs to change. Victims have been ignored and brushed under the rug for far too long.

Rylant

[tweetdrivr]

For me, as shitty as it is, no team should ever punish someone on their team for cheating on their spouse. It's a pretty horrible thing to do, but it's not illegal and I would imagine that professional sports figures cheat on their spouses at a pretty alarming rate.

Any form of sexual assault or anything sexual involving a minor, really needs to be taken seriously. I think as we have seen, the culture surrounding many sporting organizations is appalling and far too many people have been gang raped and assaulted and many of those instances have been covered up by top members of those same organizations. It's horrific. While it sucks that Cole could be suspended without due process, something needs to change. Victims have been ignored and brushed under the rug for far too long.

Rylant

Agree. Obviously a major issue. It’s right that finally some light is being shone on the roach infested dark corners of the sport. However, my issue here is there is no victim. No one has come forward. If there is a victim behind these claims then they need to go to law enforcement or someone they trust to advocate for them. I have no problem with anonymity. But suspension based on an internet action some dipshit 12 year olds could have pulled is not correct.

[saucelife90]

Ian Cole will make his season debut tonight.

[DangerCat]

That's not the definition of communism, sir.

Haha I’m fully aware. My point is that the awful dictatorships run a society of fear. Fear that if you look at someone the wrong way and they report you to let’s say the KGB, you now go missing and never existed. I realize it’s a far-fetched comparison but it’s scary that our society seems to be headed in a bad direction. Now the culture behind hockey canada and hockey culture as a whole absolutely must change. I agree they should’ve investigated this whole heartedly. But he should not have been suspended unless there were people stepping up with actual evidence. I fear we will see more and more fake twitter accounts popping up when someone’s favorite team is in the playoffs for instance lol. It just sets a bad precedent for baseless claims.

[Dennis]

Ian Cole will make his season debut tonight.

I'm not sure if you saw someone tweet this but he's not in tonight's lineup

[saucelife90]

I'm not sure if you saw someone tweet this but he's not in tonight's lineup

Yeah it was in a tweet with the NHL's statement saying they found no evidence. I'll see if I can go back and see which reporter it was who tweeted it..

[rataylor22]

Haha I’m fully aware. My point is that the awful dictatorships run a society of fear. Fear that if you look at someone the wrong way and they report you to let’s say the KGB, you now go missing and never existed. I realize it’s a far-fetched comparison but it’s scary that our society seems to be headed in a bad direction. Now the culture behind hockey canada and hockey culture as a whole absolutely must change. I agree they should’ve investigated this whole heartedly. But he should not have been suspended unless there were people stepping up with actual evidence. I fear we will see more and more fake twitter accounts popping up when someone’s favorite team is in the playoffs for instance lol. It just sets a bad precedent for baseless claims.

Literally nobody was hurt by Ian Cole missing a couple games of hockey. Suspending him was the right call and should be done. What if someone does it to a star player in a key game? What a sad life that person has and said star player should still be suspended pending an investigation. Allegations like this are far more serious than some silly little rubber puck and stick game.