The tragic death of 29-year-old Nottingham Panthers star Adam Johnson shocked the ice hockey world, with footage of the incident prompting debate over the culpability of Sheffield Steelers player Matt Petgrave, whose skate came up high to fatally cut Johnson across the neck during a game.
As per the BBC, Petgrave has now been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, with a spokesman for South Yorkshire police confirming: “Detectives have today arrested a man on suspicion of manslaughter. He remains in police custody at this time. On October 28, Adam, aged 29, was seriously injured during a game between Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers and was sadly later pronounced deceased in hospital. A post-mortem examination confirmed he died as a result of a fatal neck injury.”
Personally, I haven’t played or watched nearly enough ice hockey in my life to be able to determine how responsible Petgrave should be held for Johnson’s death, but it seems opinion is split even between those who have.
Some people claim it was a ‘freak accident’ that occurred after Petgrave was clipped at speed which spun his leg into the air, and others claim the footage shows that he purposely kicked his leg up to make contact with Johnson.
Even if the latter were true, there’s obviously no way he intended to run his skates across the man’s neck, even he was acting recklessly and negligently. Which I guess would be where the manslaughter charge comes in.
Whatever comes of this, it’s an incident that will haunt Petgrave forever, not to mention the friends and family of Adam Johnson. Here’s hoping they can all mourn and heal properly, and that something like this never happens again in the ice hockey world.
For the 18-year-old model who tried to blackmail a pro ice hockey player after sleeping with him, click HERE.
