NHL shares details of investigation into Ian Cole.

The National Hockey League had some very serious allegations on its hands and it seems that the league has responded in a quick and timely manner.

Last week an anonymous Twitter user identifying themselves only as "Emily Smith" took to social media to make very serious accusations against NHL veteran Ian Cole, accusations that included alleged grooming and sexual misconduct involving a minor. Although there was no evidence offered to substantiate the accusations at the time the claims were being made, the Tampa Bay Lightning quickly moved to suspend Cole pending the result of an investigation.

It appears as though those results are now in.

The NHL has released a statement regarding this matter, one that appears to indicate they have found no evidence that would suggest wrongdoing on the part of Cole. Here is the league's statement unedited and in full.

The National Hockey League announced today that it had concluded its investigation into anonymous allegations posted on social media against Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman lan Cole, having found no evidence to substantiate the allegations.

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 investigation included two separate interviews with Mr. Cole as well as interviews with NHL club personnel and other individuals with potentially relevant information. Further, the investigation included a detailed review of online and social media, public data, and court records and law enforcement checks. In addition, despite attempts by the League to make contact with the anonymous source of the social media post, those efforts were unsuccessful.

On the basis of the foregoing, the National Hockey League now considers this matter closed.

The Lightning have responded to this statement from the league by reinstating Ian Cole effective immediately, which is of course the right thing to do given the results of the NHL's investigation.