Vancouver Canucks mourn Adam Johnson, coach supports neck guards in hockey

The death of Adam Johnson, a former NHL player who passed after he was hit in the neck by a skate blade in a hockey game in England Saturday, is hitting home for members of the Vancouver Canucks.

“He was just a great guy. Everyone’s pretty devastated, it’s shocking, it’s sad,” Canucks forward Sam Lafferty said Monday of the 29-year-old.

Lafferty and Johnson will forever have a special connection. The 28-year-old assisted Johnson’s first NHL goal in 2019, when the pair played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and beat Minnesota — Johnson’s home state.

“I’ve been thinking about that. I remember it clearly. He ripped it top shelf — I can still see the look on his face, just pure elation, pure joy, in his home state of Minnesota, on top of that. His whole town was there for that one. It’s something I’ll never forget,” Lafferty recalled.

“The work he put in, so much skill. Just such a good human, such a good guy. It’s just really tragic.”

Canucks head coach Rich Tocchet says Vancouver defenceman Carson Soucy, who didn’t speak with the media post-practice Monday, knew Johnson well.

“He was pretty shaken up. I think it just shook everybody up. Any time anybody dies, but just the way it happened, it was really sad,” Tocchet said.

He says he’s been trying to talk through the grief and support players who have been affected by Johnson’s death.

“People grieve in different ways, but I think when you have a lot of people supporting you — I know I don’t like being alone. I know Souce, obviously he’s a big part of our team, hopefully he’ll seek comfort from a lot of our players, being around a lot of the guys.”

Johnson spent 13 games over parts of the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons playing for Pittsburgh in the NHL before spending the 2020-21 season in Sweden with the Malmo Redhawks. He had a goal and three assists for the Penguins.

He was playing with the Nottingham Panthers in a Challenge Cup game against the Sheffield Steelers when he suffered the skate cut during the second period of the Elite Ice Hockey League game at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena.

Vancouver Canucks coach says move to mandate neck guards in UK a ‘wise decision’

The incident has renewed calls for the mandatory neck guards in professional hockey at all levels. In the wake of Johnson’s death, the English Ice Hockey Association announced that, effective Jan. 1, 2024, “all players at all levels across English Ice Hockey use an approved Ice Hockey Neck Guard/Protector whilst participating in all on ice activities.”

Tocchet says he respects the move, adding it’s “a wise decision.”

“I think we should look into it. It’s something that, when something like this happens, you can’t just say it’s a one off. You just got to definitely look into this,” the coach said.

Four-time Olympic women’s hockey gold medallist Hayley Wickenheiser, is among those pushing for neck protection in hockey, saying on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the risk is far too great not to wear neck guards, even if it doesn’t pass the “cool factor.”

Neck guards are not mandatory in the NHL. The Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League mandate players to wear neck guards.

Hockey Canada also requires players registered in minor or women’s hockey to wear neck protection.

The NHL has had skate cut scares throughout its history, most notably Buffalo goaltender Clint Malarchuk, who took a blade to the neck during a game against St. Louis on March 22, 1989. Malarchuk received rapid medical attention and played again 10 days later.

Richard Zednik also survived a similar incident while playing for the Florida Panthers in 2008.

-With files from The Associated Press and Sportsnet