Former Pittsburgh Penguins player Adam Johnson passed away shortly after his neck was cut open by Matt Petegrave’s hockey skate mid-game on Oct. 28. Since the incident, various international leagues, and Johnson’s former team the Pittsburgh Penguins (the only team in the NHL to do so), have mandated that all players wear neck protection to prevent future tragedy.
The USA Hockey program has made a recommendation to change rules that all players must wear protective neck gear, but many players don’t want to wear them for one major reason: discomfort.
Johnson was heading toward the net, and Petegrave came up in front of him and collided with another player. While Petegrave was falling, he kicked up his leg and hit Johnson in the neck. Immediately after the team noticed what happened, all fans and reporters left the arena and the game was suspended. Petegrave was arrested by London police for attempted manslaughter, but was then released on bail. He has been known to be a dirty player on the ice.
In the NHL, neck guards or neck coverings of any kind are not common.
TJ Oshie was one of the first NHL players to wear a neck guard during games after Johnson’s death. Oshie has been seen wearing his own brand—Warroad—to protect his own safety and act as a role model for younger players. As one of the only players wearing the neck guard in the league, Oshie hopes to bring awareness to other players to protect themselves. After the first shift of the game, Oshie said he doesn’t even notice he was wearing one.
After this incident, the West Essex ice hockey program decided to instate a strict neck guard policy during games for the safety of all the players.
“At the high school level they’re required to wear them, so they don’t have a choice,” Assistant Varsity coach Tim Shea said. “As far as games go, we can get penalties for it, and that’s something we don’t want to happen.”
Even though the incident was tragic, this event has opened more eyes to the true dangers, especially for young players.
“I hope it impacts the younger kids that are learning so that as they get older, they become more comfortable wearing neck guards,” Shea said.
Photo credit: “Hockey Rink” by LollyKnit is licensed under (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED
