News Article: Matt Petgrave arrested suspicion of manslaughter. Adam Johnson

[LSCII]

You seem to be discounting the player’s history and reputation, further , you seem to chalking up and incident that has never happened in the history of professional hockey as an accident by a player that has proven to walk the line of acceptable conduct in the game of hockey his entire career. I’m fairly confident he didn’t expect this outcome, but to say he’s not liable is allowing for this type of behavior in the future. I’m not sure how an objective observer watches that video and justifies that extra leg kick , up that high , in the context of the physics of that hit, is an accident. Luckily for that poor man’s family the authorities seemed to think there was something there to investigate.

What does his history of taking penalties have to do with this? That’s such a massive stretch to suggest that because he plays an edgy game he intended to cut a guy with his skate or that he tried to kick his face. If he had a history of using his blades that would be relevant but being suspended for abusive behavior towards a ref is irrelevant.

But it proves my point about how far some folks are going in their overreaction to this. I felt the same way about the McSorely incident too.

 

[WATTAGE4451]

That's a very important point. The police are just doing their due diligence.

Regardless of what people think about intent or degree of recklessness I think Petgrave will be exonerated mainly due to Westin Michaud, the player on the bench closest to the incident, and also a teammate of Johnson. He stated:

"I need to address something about the accident. We wholeheartedly stand with Matt Petgrave. The hate that Matt is receiving is terrible and completely uncalled for. I was at ice level on the bench closest to the accident, I saw both players moving fast. The unintentional clip of the Panther player's leg by the Sheffield player caused the somersault. It's clear to me his actions were unintentional and anyone suggesting otherwise is mistaken. Let's come together and not spread unwarranted hate to someone who needs our support."

People can watch the less-than-great quality footage and debate this all day long, but Michaud's eyewitness testimony will surely be as important as anything for Petgraves' defense. I'm glad that the police are at least looking into the matter. It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds.

Im not sure why eyewitness accounts of players who are focused on a game and not likely to be focused on the play at the split second would be morenreliable than what we are ablento review in the video evidence. Granted the video is a little grainy, but im sure they have ways of cleaning it up that the police will look at.

 

[Score08]

What does his history of taking penalties have to do with this? That’s such a massive stretch to suggest that because he plays an edgy game he intended to cut a guy with his skate or that he tried to kick his face. If he had a history of using his blades that would be relevant but being suspended for abusive behavior towards a ref is irrelevant.

But it proves my point about how far some folks are going in their overreaction to this. I felt the same way about the McSorely incident too.

That’s fine if you want to under react, but I don’t think I’m over reacting. I happen to believe there’s enough red flags that warrants this being investigated. His history of being dirty speaks to his lack of impulse control.

 

[PB37]

What are they considering negligence though? I think that’s the key. If it’s a tripping penalty and someone’s head cracks off the ice, does that also qualify?

It’s a slippery slope.

It depends on what your definition of is is

A tripping penalty happens every game and while penalized, it's within the scope of what's considered acceptable in a hockey game. If an injury or god forbid a death occurs because of a trip, it's reasonable to think that it was a hockey play gone wrong. Needless to say, because a death occurred, law enforcement should investigate. Death shouldn't be considered an acceptable outcome during a sports event.

Kicking someone in the throat while looking at them doesn't happen every game. I think it's safe to say that exact play has never happened in hockey before. This was not a hockey play gone wrong. He turned his skates into a weapon via his reckless actions.

 

[Bruinfanatic]

A tripping penalty happens every game and while penalized, it's within the scope of what's considered acceptable in a hockey game. If an injury or god forbid a death occurs because of a trip, it's reasonable to think that it was a hockey play gone wrong. Needless to say, because a death occurred, law enforcement should investigate. Death shouldn't be considered an acceptable outcome during a sports event.

Kicking someone in the throat while looking at them doesn't happen every game. I think it's safe to say that exact play has never happened in hockey before. This was not a hockey play gone wrong. He turned his skates into a weapon via his reckless actions.

Would really like to see a clearer video because it sure looks like an extra kick was also given,which it looked like might have actually caused the injury.I would think the police have a much clearer video would show one way or the other.

 

[TD Charlie]

A tripping penalty happens every game and while penalized, it's within the scope of what's considered acceptable in a hockey game. If an injury or god forbid a death occurs because of a trip, it's reasonable to think that it was a hockey play gone wrong. Needless to say, because a death occurred, law enforcement should investigate. Death shouldn't be considered an acceptable outcome during a sports event.

Kicking someone in the throat while looking at them doesn't happen every game. I think it's safe to say that exact play has never happened in hockey before. This was not a hockey play gone wrong. He turned his skates into a weapon via his reckless actions.

The thing is, I don't believe he kicked anybody. I may be wrong in my assessment, but I believe he extended a leg to impede progress of Johnson, and at the same time he was knocked off balance and it totally changed the angles of his hips.

A stick is also dangerous and it gets jabbed into players' faces every night. When somebody loses an eye on a high sticking penalty is it assault?

I never said death was an acceptable outcome. I do think some people are barking up the wrong tree though. Change the process here, don't punish the player.

 

[PB37]

The thing is, I don't believe he kicked anybody. I may be wrong in my assessment, but I believe he extended a leg to impede progress of Johnson, and at the same time he was knocked off balance and it totally changed the angles of his hips.

A stick is also dangerous and it gets jabbed into players' faces every night. When somebody loses an eye on a high sticking penalty is it assault?

I never said death was an acceptable outcome. I do think some people are barking up the wrong tree though. Change the process here, don't punish the player.

I too think he meant to stick his leg out, but he alone is responsible for that action and it turned into a kick. I think he simply misjudged how high he was bringing his leg up. In wrestling terms, that was a superkick, where he brings his lead leg up and catches someone in the face.

If someone jabs a stick into someone's face and a player loses an eye, yes, a player can face legal consequences. It's happened before for egregious stickwork that's crossed the line of acceptable hockey violence and what will force the law to intervene. Check this out for some examples:

Violence in ice hockey - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

This thread just goes in one giant circle it seems.

 

[NeelyDan]

This thread just goes in one giant circle it seems.

A microcosm of the entire forum, really

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

A microcosm of the entire forum, really

The Bruins board is the best on HF.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

The thing is, I don't believe he kicked anybody. I may be wrong in my assessment, but I believe he extended a leg to impede progress of Johnson

which is the reckless act that led to a death.

 

[TD Charlie]

which is the reckless act that led to a death.

That’s where i disagree.

I too think he meant to stick his leg out, but he alone is responsible for that action and it turned into a kick. I think he simply misjudged how high he was bringing his leg up. In wrestling terms, that was a superkick, where he brings his lead leg up and catches someone in the face.

If someone jabs a stick into someone's face and a player loses an eye, yes, a player can face legal consequences. It's happened before for egregious stickwork that's crossed the line of acceptable hockey violence and what will force the law to intervene. Check this out for some examples:

Violence in ice hockey - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In wrestling terms this would be a botched leg sweep

 

[Score08]

The thing is, I don't believe he kicked anybody. I may be wrong in my assessment, but I believe he extended a leg to impede progress of Johnson, and at the same time he was knocked off balance and it totally changed the angles of his hips.

A stick is also dangerous and it gets jabbed into players' faces every night. When somebody loses an eye on a high sticking penalty is it assault?

I never said death was an acceptable outcome. I do think some people are barking up the wrong tree though. Change the process here, don't punish the player.

How many players extend their leg at head level though?

 

[SteadyEddie]

After watching the video multiple times, I believe this is manslaughter. At first I thought it was incidental contact and accidental, but it becomes apparent that the opposing player Matt Petgrave was targeting Johnson. Yes there was another player in between the two of them, but you can see Petgrave is following Johnson’s path. As Johnson starts to pivot to go behind his teammate, Petgrave puts on the brakes with his right leg (you can see the snow kick up) and lifts his left leg to make contact with Johnson. You may say the intent of Petgrave was to slow down Johnson, but the horror of it all is how high the skate goes. Call it what you want, I see it as reckless endagerment (manslaughter).

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

This thread just goes in one giant circle it seems.

No it doesn't.

 

[TD Charlie]

How many players extend their leg at head level though?

None. Neither did this guy.

 

[LSCII]

That’s fine if you want to under react, but I don’t think I’m over reacting. I happen to believe there’s enough red flags that warrants this being investigated. His history of being dirty speaks to his lack of impulse control.

I’m not under reacting to it at all, imo. It’s a tragic accident that unfortunately happened. But that being said, I’m not going to sit here and draw conclusions about his intent. That’s just silly. Even if he stuck his leg out to impede the guy, that stuff happens all the time. Are we really going to start accusing players with manslaughter charges because they blew a defensive assignment and tried to slow the opposing player down? Seems like a big jump, no? In reality he sticks his leg out as he’s being contacted by another player so his leg shoots high. Sad but clearly a series of ill timed events.

 

[Score08]

None. Neither did this guy.

I disagree. Considering it’s never happened in the history of professional hockey , it sort of leads more credence to this not being an accident.

 

[Bruinfanatic]

None. Neither did this guy.

No just neck level

 

[Therick67]

I don't know how minimal contact could send this guy so out of control so easily to have his skate go up like that. It just doesn't look right to me.

Having said that, I certainly don't think he was trying to kill him. Just a tough situation to try and figure out.

 

[Score08]

I’m not under reacting to it at all, imo. It’s a tragic accident that unfortunately happened. But that being said, I’m not going to sit here and draw conclusions about his intent. That’s just silly. Even if he stuck his leg out to impede the guy, that stuff happens all the time. Are we really going to start accusing players with manslaughter charges because they blew a defensive assignment and tried to slow the opposing player down? Seems like a big jump, no? In reality he sticks his leg out as he’s being contacted by another player so his leg shoots high. Sad but clearly a series of ill timed events.

There’s zero contact from another player, not even a jersey brush, none! And I’m pretty sure the authorities have seen the same thing. He straight up tried to f*** him up when he realized he got burned . I’m not saying he tried kill him , but nothing, absolutely nothing about that was a hockey play. Had he been little later it may have been a hip check , but he was early and scrambled to still get hit by kicking him on the way by. He’s a thug who gambled with someone else’s life and lost . Lock him up.

 

[PB37]

There’s zero contact from another player, not even a jersey brush, none! And I’m pretty sure the authorities have seen the same thing. He straight up tried to f*** him up when he realized he got burned . I’m not saying he tried kill him , but nothing, absolutely nothing about that was a hockey play. Had he been little later it may have been a hip check , but he was early and scrambled to still get hit by kicking him on the way by. He’s a thug who gambled with someone else’s life and lost . Lock him up.

Even if there was contact, it was minimal at best and absolutely in no way would it cause a hockey player to kick his skate up that high. Petgrave simply lost control and misjudged how high to lift his skate.

That’s where i disagree.


In wrestling terms this would be a botched leg sweep

A leg sweep in professional wrestling is targeted at the legs/ankle. I've never seen a leg sweep botched where it hits an opponent in the head standing up. That's a superkick.

 

[EvilDead]

Im not sure why eyewitness accounts of players who are focused on a game and not likely to be focused on the play at the split second would be morenreliable than what we are ablento review in the video evidence. Granted the video is a little grainy, but im sure they have ways of cleaning it up that the police will look at.

This isn't CSI where you can click the auto enhance button. The police don't have the technology to do this. And even if there was generative AI to be used to clean up the footage, it wouldn't be able to generate an exact or clean image that we can say is actually what happened and that's why both the UK and US have already ruled that generative AI images are not admissible as evidence in a court of law to prove someone's guilt in a homicide case.

What they have is what they got. Unless they have an angle they aren't telling us about, they need to use what's available and witness testimony.

 

[Gee Wally]

Today’s Globe:

Safety measures​

Along with following their son’s blossoming career, Mason Lohrei’s family is busy on other hockey fronts.

Lohrei’s mother, Teri Weiss, is the inventor of Skate Armor, protective equipment such as neck guards, wrist guards, and undershirts with integrated neck protection designed to lessen the dangers of skate blades.

In the aftermath of Adam Johnson’s death last month after his neck was cut by a skate blade during an EIHL game in England, Lohrei said that Skate Armor’s entire catalog has been sold out.

“I’m really proud of her,” Lohrei said. ”And she’s worked so hard — I’ve never seen anybody work harder on something than she does. With the whole thing that happened, every night she’s been up till 3, 4 a.m. packing, sending stuff out.

“So she’s completely out. But she’s gotten a lot of orders from NHL organizations and organizations around the country.

“She really believes that every kid, every hockey player, should be wearing a neck guard every time they take the ice.”

Johnson’s death and the close call that Bruins teammate Jakub Lauko had last month have Lohrei thinking about donning more protective gear.

“I wore it growing up until I went to junior,” Lohrei said of the neck guard. “And then I haven’t since.

“Definitely have rethought it. Actually been talking with her about — I don’t wear a shirt under my stuff. So it’d be kind of weird to wear the shirt with it. So I’m trying to get her to maybe [make] something that looks like a shirt … Maybe she’ll give me a custom piece because I’m her son.”

Why Wear a Neck Guard | Skate Armor |

There are plenty of reasons to wear a neck guard, and with how comfortable Skate Armor is, no reason not to. Take a look at some examples of what can happen without adequate protection.

skate-armor.com