ice ghockey - tragic accident

[s.a.m]

29 year old Adam Johnson, Nottingham Panthers player, died after having his neck slashed accidentally during a game in Sheffield. Previously played for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Awful.

https://news.sky.com/story/ice-hocke...field-12995563

[Pretty Boy]

I read he has been hospitalised last night but didn't realise he had died. Horrific.

[Sloop67]

I'm pretty shocked by this . Like most people I never imagined that it was possible for something like this to happen, a complete freak accident and a truly tragic event

[HH81]

Seen the video on twitter, it's absolutely horrific.

[Fuzzywuzzy]

No idea what the other boy was thinking as didn't look as though he was off balance?🤷

[Dmas]

I also saw the footage such a horrific accident, I know nothing about the game I just don’t understand what the person was doing with his foot so high

[Scouse Hibee]

A truly horrific accident. Now been announced that the players will wear neck guards.

[stu in nottingham]

I am a fairly regular visitor to the Nottingham Panthers and have watched hockey, both domestic and NHL for over forty years. This accident was just dreadful - I have never seen anything quite like it though players have suffered serius neck injuries from time to time. Back in the 1980s, the St Louis goalie had his neck ran over by a skate blade severing his jugular. He survived only due to the very close presence of a quick-thinking medic.

I am bereft for Adam's family, for everyone involved at the Sheffield Arena on Saturday evening and for the sport I love. Shock waves are present in the city here where hockey is extremely popular and it is felt keenly by many, inside and outside of the sport. Flowers are being left outside the Nottingham Arena where the Panthers play.

I saw the footage which was shared in a group on Saturday evening and have to say I wish I had never seen it. Adam's reaction after the collision was unbearable to see. I would counsel anyone against viewing it.

Speaking to a friend's son last night who plays hockey for a different English team and who were due to play last night. The league had, apallingly, insisted on them fulfilling the fixture. My friend's son said that no one wanted to play. Only when one teammate said he worried about it in regard to his own mental health and couldn't play did his teammates say enough, and refuse to play. The game was called off.

It's a Canadian tradition to leave a hockey outside the door and I have one placed in my front porch.
The meaning is 'The boys might need it ... wherever they are'.

God bless and keep you, rest in peace, Adam

[Keyser Sauzee]

I haven’t watched the footage and don’t think I will, was it pretty innocent or is there questions being asked about the other party involved?

[CallumLaidlaw]

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I haven’t watched the footage and don’t think I will, was it pretty innocent or is there questions being asked about the other party involved?

Police are investigating apparently.


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[Pretty Boy]

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Police are investigating apparently.


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Standard practice for any unexpected death. At this point there is no suggestion to any criminality.

Unrelated to your post but I'm a bit troubled by some of the response to this and I'll elaborate on why further on in the post. There are a few sports I know a bit about having been a participant (boxing, football, golf) or been a keen spectator (American football, horse racing) and there are others I watch and enjoy but know nothing about (cricket). Ice hockey falls into none of those categories. I know nothing about it and don't think I have watched a single game all the way through. I haven't seen the incident from the weekend, don't want to see it and couldn't tell you anything about it if I did see it.

I do have an old school friend who plays ice hockey though. He represented both Scotland and Great Britain at youth level, played for the original incarnation of the Edinburgh Capitals and for a few teams down south. A solid player at the top level of UK hockey. We haven't spoken in years but are still friends/follow each other on social media platforms. Somewhat naturally a few people I know have solicited his opinion on the events. His take is that that the coming together was the equivalent of 'letting him know you are there' in a football sense. Something that happens multiple times a season only this time it has ended in the most tragic way possible. He said it's a million to one shot that it would play out the way it did and no player would ever wilfully aim a skate at a players head, neck or face knowing the damage it could do. When pressed he stressed he was talking about the player attempting to 'check' an opponent and losing balance was the 'leaving it on him', he said the skate coming up was inadvertent reaction and linked to about a dozen videos of similar in various levels of hockey from the NHL downwards. I'm not saying he is correct but I trust his experienced opinion over some of the social media commentary by people who seem to have as much experience of hockey as me. I think in any sport fans and indeed players like a wee bit of needle, how often does a hard challenge, even a foul solicit a big response from a crowd at a football game? Even when it is potentially serious there can be a nasty reaction from fans. Look at Saturday as an example, when the Celtic player tooka hefty boot to the face and collapsed face down there was an audible ironic cheer from some Hibs fans, very much a minority but it was there. When the treatment took a while there was a bit of booing and when he went down a second time there was increased booing. No one really needs it explained how serious a kick to the head can be and it was obvious the situation on Saturday was somewhat serious yet some fans seemed to enjoy it and others were irritated by it.

My point is you get these flashpoints and that bit of needle in every sport. High tackles in rugby, helmet to helmet contact in the NFL and whatever happened on that ice on Saturday that, in one explanation, happens from time to time with nothing like the same tragic consequences. I think back to the death of Celtic goalkeeper John Thomson, who I posted about on here before, who died after a collision during an old firm game. The other player involved Sam English was exonerated of any blame but suffered horrendous abuse in the aftermath with fans jeering him and calling him a 'murderer'. He was tortured by the whole affair and never really recovered.

The other player involved in this incident will have to deal with similar. Regardless of what the Police and any potential fatal accident enquiry find there will be those who have made up their mind, informed or otherwise. Here is what really troubles me, people on social media asking why the 'mainstream media' are insisting on calling this an accident. Of course the media are merely repeating what the team and the governing body have said in their statements but for some that isn't enough. There are pictures of the guy and captions along the lines of 'well now we know why'. I genuinely can't think of anything lower than trying to make such a tragic incident a point scoring racial issue. It's disgusting and is an affront to the memory of the poor young man who lost his life.

It's up to the Police now to establish the facts and make a decision based on what they find. I just hope people respect that decision, whatever it is.

Most importantly I hope the family and friends of Adam Johnson get all the support they need and are spared the idle speculation around the incident. They deserve that. And I hope the poor young man rests in peace, it's just hollow words really but what else is there?

[Sergio sledge]

What a horrible tragedy, I’m a semi-interested panthers follower from my time in Nottingham, horrific stuff.

Yeah PB it looked to me like that’s exactly what happened, the Sheffield player was actually trying to check another Nottingham player who avoided the check and then because he was off balance from his check being avoided the Sheffield player unfortunately collided with Johnson.

I’ve got a couple of mates who play hockey and they have both said it looked like a complete accident. The Sheffield player will feel bad enough as it is without the pile on the seems to be happening online.

Good to see that neck protection is going to be mandatory at all levels in British hockey after Christmas. It was already mandatory up to 18, but will now be mandatory for everyone.

[stu in nottingham]

Talked to the Peterborough player I know on Sunday night about this. His team had been due to play that night with the league insisting that the game was fulfilled. None of the players were keen to play. Finally, one mentioned that he felt it keyed into his mental health issues from the past and said he wouldn't play. The team to a man backed him and refused to play. My friend said something like, 'what for, just to put a few more quid into some suit's pocket, we have to go through that ordeal for that?'

Assessing the accident, we both agreed that when another Panthers skater cut across Petgrave's path he inadvertantly 'lifted' Matt Petgrave horizontally with his body causing Petgrave's legs to come up. This lifting can sometimes similarly be seen in a hip check.

I get the point about 'leaving one on him'. In hockey, players are taught to finish their check and go through on the player to let them know you're there. I'm pretty certain that Matt Petgrave did not mean to connect with his skate on Adam Johnson though.

[Sergio sledge]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan...shire-67419951

[stu in nottingham]

Just read that, quite a bombshell.

The more times I saw the incident the less decided I became.

A sad day for the sport, albeit, I hope justice is seen to be done for Adam's Johnson's family's sake, should this go further.

[Just Alf]

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Just read that, quite a bombshell.

The more times I saw the incident the less decided I became.

A sad day for the sport, albeit, I hope justice is seen to be done for Adam's Johnson's family's sake, should this go further.

Agree... almost looks like a karate kick.

The fact the guy is listed as an "enforcer" in some circles and just happens to have one of the worst disciplinary records in the league isn't going to help him.

[Since90+2]

The decision to charge is no surprise to me to be honest. When you watch what actually occurred, and the fatal outcome, I don't think the police had any other option.

[stu in nottingham]

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The decision to charge is no surprise to me to be honest. When you watch what actually occurred, and the fatal outcome, I don't think the police had any other option.

Has he been charged now? I thought he had been released on bail, pending further investigation.

[Scouse Hibee]

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The decision to charge is no surprise to me to be honest. When you watch what actually occurred, and the fatal outcome, I don't think the police had any other option.

He hasn’t been charged, was arrested but now released on bail pending further enquiries.