Former NHL'er Adam Johnson passed away after injury | Mod warning post 526

[klmdg]

It's unclear to me whether or not Petgrave's skate clipped the skate of Johnson's teammate as he attempted to cut inside of him to get a clear path to Johnson.

If their skates did collide, maybe Petgrave desperately extended his leg to "check" Johnson as he lost his balance. That would be an unbelievably stupid, dirty play with fatal consequences.

If not, I shudder to think that a player in his 8th season of professional hockey would so viciously assault an opponent with malicious intent, knowing full well the possible outcome.

Only Matt Petgrave knows what was going through his mind during that play. Hopefully the formal investigation will reveal the truth of the matter to all of us.

I don't believe there was malicious intent because, as you said, he's been around a long time

I just think he is one of those players who is willing to do stupid things on the ice because yesterday's outcome being a possibility has never crossed his mind

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

One death is too many. Need mandatory neck guards for all players asap. One fan death from a stray puck lead to netting in every arena.

 

[D1az]

I've watched it multiple times slowed down now, and there is quite some mental gymnastics to get that to be an accident.

Completely intentional. Might have been a moment of low impulse control, and would be interesting to know if there had been anything between these two earlier during the game or some other play which might have frustrated him to tick higher on the aggression scale.
Add to that that I now saw that he apparently has had a bit of an issue to control his emotions during previous games, having had to leave them early, and has apparently been quite a PIM collector.

Might not do that 99.9% of the time, but in that moment he did it.

 

[ACLEVERNAME]

I don't believe there was malicious intent because, as you said, he's been around a long time

I just think he is one of those players who is willing to do stupid things on the ice because yesterday's outcome being a possibility has never crossed his mind

Maybe not 'malicious' intent but there was obviously some form of conciuous 'intent' there. My best guess from the replays etc, was a last-ditch attempt at a 'clothsline' towards a player who was walking into the slot scott free. The dude made a stupid and dangerous defensive play and ultimately f***ed it up royally.

Hard to watch but it's right there.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Adam was a free agent prospect I wish got a better shot with the Pens. Super fast, seemed like a good lad. So sad to see his life end like this, way too young and at a time where I wish he was still alive given the others that have had a skate cut to the neck by accident as well. It just sucks to know how any survived vs the one that didn't and it just seems unfair. It is unfair.

 

[klmdg]

Maybe not 'malicious' intent but there was obviously some form of conciuous 'intent' there. My best guess from the replays etc, was a last-ditch attempt at a 'clothsline' towards a player who was walking into the slot scott free. The dude made a stupid and dangerous defensive play and ultimately f***ed it up royally.

Hard to watch but it's right there.

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, there is intent there, I just don't believe his intent was that outcome

Regardless, you are 100% correct, it was a stupid and dangerous play, and he f***ed up beyond royally

 

[Cirris]

I would never set foot on any ice surface with that player again.

As a teammate, an opponent or a Ref.

No excuse for what he did. You can all believe in the "accident" theory all you want. But I want no part of a player that doesn't understand the skate blade is a weapon if swings his legs around like that.

AND YES HE F`ing Threw his Legs in the air to make contact with Johnson.

 

[Maliks PlusMinus]

To be clear here there are apparently two different angles of this video out there. One, which I have seen where the contact between the players prior to the incident is very clear and one from the other side of the ice where it is not.
This is creating a horrendous impression to people who see from one angle.
Unless we are 100% sure about this it is my opinion that posts suggesting intent should not be made, not because you don’t have a right to an opinion, however misguided or otherwise, but because a guy is out there receiving all sorts of abuse at a time where he just ended someone’s life playing hockey. The mental turmoil will be at an all time high and piling on that with suspicion could lead to yet more awful results in a situation that already took a young man’s life.

 

[waitin425]

Very TRAGIC incident

The video circulating looks BAD

IF the intent was to kick Johnson with his skate (which it appears to be at this point) that player should NEVER be allowed on an ice surface again in his life. I'm sure that will be self imposed on his part at some point.

 

[ACLEVERNAME]

To be clear here there are apparently two different angles of this video out there. One, which I have seen where the contact between the players prior to the incident is very clear and one from the other side of the ice where it is not.
This is creating a horrendous impression to people who see from one angle.
Unless we are 100% sure about this it is my opinion that posts suggesting intent should not be made, not because you don’t have a right to an opinion, however misguided or otherwise, but because a guy is out there receiving all sorts of abuse at a time where he just ended someone’s life playing hockey. The mental turmoil will be at an all time high and piling on that with suspicion could lead to yet more awful results in a situation that already took a young man’s life.

As always in today's world the perpetrator is the real victim in the crime. Bleeding out on the ice is the second worst fate to getting online hate mail from hockey fans. lmao

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

I just inadvertently saw a brief clip of this incident in my X feed (mercifully edited to just show how it happened). Yeah...there's no way that was an accident. There's nothing natural at all about his leg being raised like that.

 

[Fledgemyhedge]

Nobody saying he kicked him in the neck on purpose. But you have to be in control of your legs there and it wasent like he took some huge hit that put him in mid air. He stood his legs out intentionally.

Holy f*** I finally agree with Nathaniel Skywalker. Anybody who sees this differently is definitely doing some mental gymnastics. It’s tough for people to come to terms with but this is ugly

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Can someone give me a frame by frame walkthrough. I don’t wanna watch.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Can someone give me a frame by frame walkthrough. I don’t wanna watch.

This is gonna be perception, but basically skater A (the one who ended Johnson's life) was skating above the slot and kind of got side swiped, honestly interfered with from what I saw, and looked like he was losing his balance. Instead of just going down he tried to throw his body into Johnson to take someone with him, but by trying to force his body over in his direction while losing his balance, his legs just went up in the air and one caught Johnson square in the throat as he was skating by. Honestly, I understand why people don't want to watch the video, but from a gore standpoint, it's not really like you see a throat getting slit. There's contact, lots of blood on the ice and him skating off with people holding on to him. At least that's the version I saw. Don't think it's gonna keep anybody up at night to watch it.

 

[BenchBrawl]

The way he lifted his leg is unnatural. Never seen anything like it.

If there was intent, he should face charges.

He had a reputation for playing on the edge:

Not everyone appears to be a fan of Sheffield Steelers star Matt Petgrave

It's a pity that the growing group of admirers that Matt Petgrave has attracted doesn't seem to include EIHL match night officials.

www.thestar.co.uk

Petgrave's only problem seems to be with referees and linesmen.

He has been booted out of two out of the last four games, for abuse of officials (against Coventry Blaze) and alleged spearing (Manchester Storm,) and is Sheffield's top penalty-minute taker (71 in 11 games.)

Across the EIHL regular league, as a whole, nobody comes close to his penalty minutes tally.

 

[Siamese Dream]

To be clear here there are apparently two different angles of this video out there. One, which I have seen where the contact between the players prior to the incident is very clear and one from the other side of the ice where it is not.
This is creating a horrendous impression to people who see from one angle.
Unless we are 100% sure about this it is my opinion that posts suggesting intent should not be made, not because you don’t have a right to an opinion, however misguided or otherwise, but because a guy is out there receiving all sorts of abuse at a time where he just ended someone’s life playing hockey. The mental turmoil will be at an all time high and piling on that with suspicion could lead to yet more awful results in a situation that already took a young man’s life.

For what it's worth, before the video surfaced the following morning, all the reports circulating within the British hockey community coming from people who were actually there on the night was that it was a freak accident and this seemed to be the unanimous consensus coming from both sets of fans and all those involved in the game.

It wasn't until the story gained further traction and got attention from outside the community that all this discourse started.

 

[ACLEVERNAME]

For what it's worth, before the video surfaced the following morning, all the reports circulating within the British hockey community coming from people who were actually there on the night was that it was a freak accident and this seemed to be the unanimous consensus coming from both sets of fans and all those involved in the game.

It wasn't until the story gained further traction and got attention from outside the comm⁵unity that all this discourse started.

And then people actually saw what happened. Not sure what you're trying to get at here? Those who saw it happen in real time somehow have a cleaner/clearer view of the matter than the video replay?

"It wasn't until the story gained further traction..." lmao You're the type that would argue to the death that l'm seeing the colour blue when I look up at the sky.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

For what it's worth, before the video surfaced the following morning, all the reports circulating within the British hockey community coming from people who were actually there on the night was that it was a freak accident and this seemed to be the unanimous consensus coming from both sets of fans and all those involved in the game.

It wasn't until the story gained further traction and got attention from outside the community that all this discourse started.

Idiots love to spin a narrative and we're seeing it full blown here.

Fans at the game - accident
Players at the game - accident
Literally everyone there - accident

Some wankers see a twitter clip that's grainy and not the full picture or all the angles - malicious intent to murder!

Then it spurred into some weird defamation territory about a bloke that is now a terrible person. There are current NHL players that have done more damage than what he did prior to the skate to Adam Johnson, but because the dops didn't do their job, they don't have the rap sheet they deserve.

It's really weird. As Pens fans, we saw this lad get signed and hoped for the best for a prospect pool Mike Sullivan has taken a 6yr dump on. Adam was one of those prospects. It's sad to see a player you followed from wbs to the NHL in hopes of making it, have his life end this way. But the weirdos coming out to spin conspiracies and narratives that are not based in any reality at all, is just ridiculous.

 

[Chuck Testa]

Just saw the video.

There's no way in hell that that was not intentional. I doubt he intended for the tragic outcome that transpired but there's not a chance in hell he didn't deliberately stick his leg out like that.

Such a f***ing tragedy. Ban that idiot player from any and all leagues worldwide.

 

[Craig Ludwig]

One death is too many. Need mandatory neck guards for all players asap. One fan death from a stray puck lead to netting in every arena.

I play a lot, as do my boys, and I've been thinking about that quite a bit. Standard neck guards are usually too flimsy and have a lot of space where neck is exposed, I don't think it would have helped in this case. Some other bigger neck guards are far too rigid and it's hard to move your head. Most now wear an undergarment that includes a neckguard, but it's more of turtle neck, and that fabric can easily be sliced. They make Kevlar socks, why not make the neck portion of the undergarment out of kevlar? But even at that, that portion doesn't cover below the chin, you would have to wear it up to and including your chin. I just don't know how this is prevented, as it can also happen in a scrum at the net where guys/girls have been pushed down to the ice...

 

[Memento]

Rest in peace, Adam Johnson. My thoughts and condolences are with his family, friends, teammates, coaches, anyone whose life he's touched.

That's all I'm going to say. It's a horrible feeling, knowing someone younger than I am died in such a horrible way.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

Horrible, tragic news. Very sad for this young man and his family.

 

[Frenchy]

Can someone give me a frame by frame walkthrough. I don’t wanna watch.

It's not easy to watch , reminds me of the Richard Zednik and Clint Malarchuk incidents.

 

[Chuck Testa]

I remember travelling to Boston to play hockey when I was 18. Neckguards have always been mandatory for us but in Boston, the players on the other American teams didn't wear neck guards but had elongated cages on their helmets.

Some of the players on my team had larger neckguards whereas others (like myself, for example) had "neckguards" but they were not what I would call overly protective. I've never liked wearing an overly padded neckguard but some of the fellas on my team had ones that looked like small neck braces.

I do wonder if the NHL is going to look to implement something as a result of this tragedy.

 

[Maliks PlusMinus]

As always in today's world the perpetrator is the real victim in the crime. Bleeding out on the ice is the second worst fate to getting online hate mail from hockey fans. lmao

What an odd situation to say that in.

The real victim is dead. Anything else here is secondary. Unfortunately, it is only the secondary things that anyone can affect now