While safety resistance is ingrained in the sport’s culture, it is hoped that the Sheffield tragedy will trigger action.
Adam Johnson’s tragic demise during a UK Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) match in Sheffield last Sunday has sent shockwaves throughout the ice hockey community. Unlike previous occurrences, this incident might serve as a long-awaited catalyst for comprehensive changes in protective equipment.
The Nottingham Panther met his untimely end after suffering a throat laceration during the second period of a Challenge Cup game against the Sheffield Steelers. While this incident has been labeled a “freak accident” by the Panthers club and others within the hockey community, it remains a rare event despite the sport’s rapid pace, physicality, and the players’ razor-sharp skate blades. Nonetheless, it is not the first of its kind.
Adam Johnson’s tragic demise during a UK Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) match in Sheffield last Sunday has sent shockwaves throughout the ice hockey community. Unlike previous occurrences, this incident might serve as a long-awaited catalyst for comprehensive changes in protective equipment.
The Nottingham Panther met his untimely end after suffering a throat laceration during the second period of a Challenge Cup game against the Sheffield Steelers. While this incident has been labeled a “freak accident” by the Panthers club and others within the hockey community, it remains a rare event despite the sport’s rapid pace, physicality, and the players’ razor-sharp skate blades. Nonetheless, it is not the first of its kind.
As for professional men’s leagues, don’t expect it to change. The National Hockey League (NHL), housing the world’s most elite players, has never enforced the use of neck protectors. Nevertheless, accidents have occurred within the NHL as well. In 1989, Buffalo Sabres’ goaltender Clint Malarchuk had his throat slashed by a skate during a game against the St. Louis Blues when two players collided with his net. Despite receiving 300 stitches, he returned to the ice within two weeks.
In 2008, Richard Zednik’s throat was accidentally cut by a teammate’s errant skate during a game between the Florida Panthers and the Sabres. Zednik eventually recovered but missed the remainder of the season. Remarkably, during this period, only two NHL players wore any form of neck coverings. One was Tomas Plekanec, who faced ridicule for his turtleneck choice. The other was Wayne Gretzky.
The NHL and its players have a well-known history of being slow to embrace safety measures. They resisted goalie masks for decades, only gradually adopted helmets following a 1979 mandate, and implemented stricter rules for dangerous hits, such as those to the head, at a glacial pace.
This resistance to safety is rooted in the NHL’s historical and cultural mindset, which mirrors a broader mentality prevalent in the sport, particularly in North America. There is a sense of pride in the inherent danger of the game, where many of the most celebrated players are admired for their toughness as much as their scoring prowess. For instance, Gordie Howe, the NHL’s most prolific scorer before Gretzky, famously inspired the “Gordie Howe hat-trick” – a combination of a goal, an assist, and a fight.
Although equipment has evolved, with the introduction of cut-resistant wrist undershirts, blade-stopping socks, and compression pants providing extended protection for the Achilles tendon in recent years, the abandonment of neck guards remains a common practice, even in professional leagues.
In 2020, Moritz Seider, who now plays for the Detroit Red Wings, was playing in Sweden when a neck guard prevented a potentially devastating skate laceration. However, three years later, this dynamic NHL defenseman no longer wears one.
Since the recent incident, there has been a collective reconsideration of neck protection in professional leagues. On Monday, the English Ice Hockey Association mandated the use of neck guards starting next year. Simultaneously, the NHL’s deputy commissioner announced on Tuesday that the league has engaged with Marty Walsh, head of the NHL players’ union, regarding the issue and is “strongly recommending” the use of cut-resistant equipment.
Hayley Wickenheiser, the revered Canadian women’s hockey icon and Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager, took to social media to assert, “It’s time for mandatory neck protection at every level in hockey. The risk is far too great not to.” Canada’s federal minister for sport also joined the call for compulsory neck guards in the NHL and WHL.
However, Washington Capitals forward TJ Oshie, the founder of Warroad, a company specializing in protective hockey gear, admitted, “It’s not a cool look having neck guards on.” Despite this, Warroad completely sold out of its cut-resistant neck and wrist tops for adults and youth this week. Oshie, who hasn’t worn this style of shirt on the ice previously, ordered five turtleneck-style shirts for himself and his teammates, acknowledging that Johnson’s death has prompted him to reconsider the importance of neck protection, irrespective of its appearance.
During a tribute to Johnson held by the Pittsburgh Penguins before their game against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday evening, a video of Johnson’s rookie lap and his first NHL goal with the Penguins played on the large screen above center ice. Players raised their unprotected necks to watch the footage.
Earlier that day, the Penguins’ head coach, Mike Sullivan, revealed that the team will mandate neck guards for their American Hockey League and East Coast Hockey League affiliates and will encourage their NHL players to use them as well. Penguins center Jeff Carter expressed the sentiment that this change is long overdue, stating, “Why not? We do it at every other level of hockey. We should have already been trying it. Shouldn’t have taken this long for something like this.”
