https://www.yahoo.com/news/manslaugh...171843179.html


LONDON (AP) — Police in England arrested a man Tuesday on suspicion of manslaughter in the death of American ice hockey player Adam Johnson, whose neck was cut by a skate during a game.

Johnson, 29, was playing for the Nottingham Panthers against the Sheffield Steelers on Oct. 28 when he was struck by an opponent's skate blade in the Elite Ice Hockey League game at Sheffield’s home arena.

South Yorkshire Police did not name the suspect or provide his age. He was in police custody.

Matt Petgrave, 31, who plays for Sheffield, was the other player involved in the grisly incident that reverberated around the hockey community and led to moments of silence in the NHL.

Video of the incident shows Johnson skating with the puck toward the Steelers net. Petgrave skates toward Johnson and collides with another Panthers player. Petgrave's left skate kicks up as he begins to fall and the blade hits Johnson in the neck.

Both players land on the ice. Petgrave immediately got to his feet. Johnson rose more slowly and as he is helped off the ice, his jersey is covered in blood. He later died at a local hospital.

“Our investigation launched immediately following this tragedy and we have been carrying out extensive inquiries ever since to piece together the events which led to the loss of Adam in these unprecedented circumstances,” Detective Chief Superintendent Becs Horsfall said.

It would be rare, but not unprecedented, for a hockey player to be charged.

Giacinto “Jim” Boni was charged in Italy with culpable homicide after he slashed Miran Schrott in the chest during a game on Jan. 14, 1992, and Schrott died as a result of a cardiac event. Boni pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Two NHL players in recent history have been charged with a crime in Canada for an on-ice action: Marty McSorley and Todd Bertuzzi.

In 2000, McSorley was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon for a two-handed slash to the head of Donald Brashear with his stick. He was sentenced to 18 months probation.

In 2004, Bertuzzi pleaded guilty to assault for grabbing Steve Moore from behind and sucker punching him. Bertuzzi agreed to a plea deal and was sentenced to one year probation and 80 hours of community service.

The Panthers said in a statement on social media that Johnson died tragically following a “freak accident.”

Nottingham teammate Westin Michaud, who posted tributes to Johnson, also defended Petgrave for what he said was an “unintentional clip” with the other player that uprighted him.

“The hate that Matt is receiving is terrible and completely uncalled for," Michaud posted. “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.”

On Sunday, at the Steelers first home game since Johnson's death, a moment of silence was held for him. Petgrave didn't play in the game, but fans gave him a standing ovation when his team photo appeared on the scoreboard.

Johnson was a Minnesota native who appeared in a total of 13 NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.

The English Ice Hockey Association, which governs the sport below the Elite League, reacted to Johnson's death by requiring all players in England to wear neck guards from the start of 2024.

A spokesman for the EIHL said the league cannot comment on an ongoing police investigation. A Nottingham Panthers spokesman said the organization had no comment. Messages seeking comment sent to Johnson’s agent, a friend of the family, and the Sheffield Steelers were not immediately returned.

NHL VP of hockey operations Rod Pasma addressed general managers at their annual November meeting in Toronto on the matter of cut-proof equipment. Pasma said players have far more options than a decade ago, including 10 or more choices for wrist, body and Achilles tendon/foot protection.

“In the neck, we’re getting there,” Pasma said. “We (did not have) many a month ago, but as it sits today, I think there’s up to eight companies on my desk waiting to be cleared, and of those eight there’s probably 12-14 options to wear, should they choose.”

The league's chief medical officer, Dr. Willem Meeuwisse, said team doctors and trainers took part in a big education session on major lacerations in the spring.

“We’re always tweaking and reviewing that kind of policy and procedure, equipment, personnel so we’re as prepared as possible to deal with a catastrophic injury,” Meeuwisse said. “We’re looking at, always, what could happen and how to prepare to deal with it best, and hopefully we don’t have the kind of bad outcome that happened a few weeks ago.”

Good, deserves about 10-15 years in the pen for what he did. One moment of retardation but he still killed a guy.

This happened during a hockey game, so I figure a lot of people wouldn't think the guy is guilty, but if this happened out on the street, a lot of the same people would think he was guilty.

Watching the video it looks like he meant to kick him IMO, maybe not kick him in the neck, but he definitely looks like he did it on purpose.

Dude got a standing ovation at his game yesterday

those idiots all got humbled real quick....prob all jabbies too. Keep on losing. Love this for them

Apparently the KNT has the worst disciplinary record in the UK game , fckn POS deserves a firing squad

He was killed by the skate, not the black guy who was wearing it

Media gon media

If you watch the video closely, he actually hit him twice.

Imagine standing up and applauding this pos. Defending black criminals has become the norm now. Waiting patiently for the next brainwashed lib to die at the hands of one of these animals, like that soyboy who got killed in the street the other day by one of his gods lol

It was definitely a purposeful kick. Lifting your leg like that to bring another man down is not normal in any sport except MMA/UFC/Karate, etc.

Bump

Was blatantly intentional. Murder wasn't the intent, but the man was trying to kick and injure another player. That's why he kicked twice.

Anyone defending him is morally cuckolded. Wonder if this scumbag will plead guilty. He's only the dirtiest player in his entire league, no big deal.

Meathead, pompous Canadian hockey attitude to blame, neck guards exist for a reason and should be mandatory, problem would have never occurred.

I would like for rollerball to weigh in on this.

crusifiction

dindu

I find it funny how every story mentions "man arrested for manslaughter". There's only one guy is could be, but muh black privilege













If the roles were reversed his mugshot would be all over WITH HIS NAME IN THE NEWS STORY.

Lock the nig up

I'm not sure if it holds up. What if an NFL lineman killed someone if they did an illegal low block? Plenty of sports have people that do things meant to hurt people.

not sure if srs

they should 100% be in jail

Why? There are millions of illegal actions in sports.

i know nothing about hockey but it looked like he had some intent to me

Ban skates

If this guy has a history of being a dirty hockey player, then fuk him.

If this neck slashing was entirely out of character, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

So hockeycels, does this guy have a history of dirty play?

I didn't watch at first.. but saw it recently when the dude got arrested

I assumed it was an accident

What i saw was a poor mans Shawn Michaels going for some sweet chin music

Shocked the dude wasn't arrested on the spot

LOL at the cucks actually ****ing cheering and celebrating for this guy in a match/stadium after the event

There are many videos of him being dirty on YouTube.search petgrave.

It was a freak accident, but the player is black so Misc wants blood

Good trolling

What a ****ing moronic take. When you purposefully kick at someone's shoulder/upper body area, there's a high chance you'll miss and dice that person's neck or face. Calling this a 'freak' accident is straight up moronic. This ****ing racist thinks it's because he's black and couldn't possibly be because dude literally roundhouse kicked (twice) another player's upper body. You're just a racist moron.