BUFFALO, N.Y. — The death of former Pittsburgh Penguins player Adam Johnson during an on-ice incident this weekend during a game on England’s Elite Ice Hockey League has sparked conversation across a hockey world heartbroken after the loss of one of its own.
Johnson, who played 13 games for the Penguins over parts of two seasons from 2018-20, was hit with a skate blade in the neck and rushed off the ice. He died in the hospital at the age of 29.
2 On Your Side attended a Buffalo Sabres Junior practice shortly after his death and spoke with guardians of some of the sport’s youngest players about what mandates they believe should be put in place in response to Johnson’s death.
Henry Swiatek’s 10-year-old grandson Evan plays for the Junior Sabres. He said while his grandson always wears a neck guard on the ice, he feels Saturday’s tragedy is enough to mandate it at all levels.
“When there's someone you love, I mean, why wouldn't you want to see them protected?” Swiatek said.
Sean Wallace, the Buffalo Junior Sabres’ executive director, on the other hand, says the incident over the weekend was a freak accident and that players should have the choice.
“Hockey, like other sports, it's fast, it's competitive,” he said. “Players are required to wear a lot of protective equipment, and even with protective equipment, sometimes injuries happen.”
The incident brought back memories for many in Buffalo when Florida Panther Richard Zednik was cut in the same fashion when facing the Sabres in 2008. So was Sabres goaltender Clint Malarchuk in 1989. They are the only two players in the NHL’s 106-year history to sustain that type of injury during a game.
Both survived, and Zednik did thanks to the quick response of Sabres medical director Les Bisson.
Fifteen years later, we caught up with Bisson over the phone to get his take.
“You could mitigate against some of these things by mandating the players at certain levels wear neck guards,” Bisson said. “We should always be trying to move toward a better world that way. But there are a lot of parties that are already paying attention to that.”
The English Ice Hockey Association announced Monday that it will begin mandating neck guards starting in 2024. As for the youth leagues in Buffalo, coaches say USA Hockey does not mandate the equipment but could in the future.
Hockey World debates player safety mandates after Adam Johnson’s death
The former Pittsburgh Penguin died in a game in England this weekend after an on-ice injury.
