Tragedy as American ice hockey star Adam Johnson dies aged 29 'after skate slashed his throat in freak accident during match': Devastated mother reveals 'I've lost half of my heart' as club pays tribute

Daily Mail ^ | 10/29/23 | Iwan Stone, Katherine Lawton, Tom Cotterill

[Libloather]

An ice hockey star who is believed to have taken a blade to his throat in a horrific injury during a game has died aged 29, his family have said.

Adam Johnson's injury was so horrific it forced the game to be abandoned and left traumatised fans in tears.

The Minnesota-born athlete is believed to have been stuck in the neck by an ice hockey blade in a freak accident at the match between Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers at Utilita Arena Sheffield this evening.

His mother Kari took to social media to share her heartbreak this morning - telling friends: 'I lost half of my heart today.'

And his club said they were 'truly devastated' by the news - paying tribute to 'a great teammate and an incredible person with his whole life ahead of him'.

The Elite Ice Hockey League said they were 'heartbroken' to confirm the 'deeply upsetting' news - and have postponed all games scheduled to take place today.

Devastated fans have taken to social media to share their grief for the Minnesota-born star, using the hashtag 'sticksoutfor47' - a reference to the number Mr Johnson wore.

Around 8,000 fans saw the nightmare collision last night before the game was quickly stopped and screens were brought onto the pitch to protect the players involved. The match was later abandoned.

Sharing the news, his club said: 'The Nottingham Panthers are truly devastated to announce that Adam Johnson has tragically passed away following a freak accident at the game in Sheffield last night.

'The Panthers would like to send our thoughts and condolences to Adam's family, his partner, and all his friends at this extremely difficult time.

'Everyone at the club including players, staff, management, and ownership are heartbroken at the news of Adam's passing.'

[pepsi_junkie]

Good lord, that was brutal. Not an accident, not intended to kill but definitely intended to harm. Manslaughter.

[katana]

Rough sport.

Perhaps the roughest. Even aside from the sharpened skate blades. Honestly surprised things like this don't happen more often. Sincere condolences to the family.

[rlmorel]

If you remember that, you might remember this guy:

He once told me I was crazy to stand in 20 degree below zero weather (Winter Carnival Quebec 1987)!

¿Quién está más loco: rlmorel o Gump Worsley?

[jimwatx]

Yes it does appear intentional. That player who did it should be kicked out of the league and prosecuted.

[Macoozie]

“1000 Ways to Die” was TV show about all the weird ways folks left this place.

[ducttape45]

I agree. That wasn’t just some accident or a pile up of bodies. This needs to be looked at more closely and if appropriate, charges filed.

[mware]

Was big fan during mid 70’s. Remember when the goalies only wore Michael Myers face masks.

[mware]

I recall when the grandfathered players who didn’t have to ware helmets. Lot of the old boys refused to wear them.

[HockeyPop]

Too sad and close to home.

[Hot Tabasco]

High kick for no reason other than to hurt someone.

Nonsense, he had just checked another player, throwing himself off balance and his leg went up automatically to try to right himself.

[Major Matt Mason]

I was at the Malarchuk game. I remember seeing one of the arena staff sitting in a stairwell with his head nearly between his legs and throwing up. Thankfully it ended well, but it was memorable for the wrong reasons.

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

It happened to another player as well, I forget his name, but it was even more gruesome than Clints, he stands up and you see the blood shooting out of his neck like a high pressure hose.

[TexasGator]

“They didn’t say but I think Johnson was dead on the ice.”

Video link in #9. With help he was skating with large loss of blood. Video ends just before collapse?

[Major Matt Mason]

That was Richard Zednik, who was playing for the Florida Panthers at the time (game was in Buffalo, as well). Considering all of the hockey games that have been played at all levels since the early 20th century, this type of incident is extremely rare. Some type of neck protection is probably in order (I know they use it at lower levels), but I don't think there is a way to completely prevent it from happening.

[mowowie]

This happened to my cousin over 40 years ago, he is lucky to be alive.
Still has a huge scar on his neck..

[nwrep]

Sorry, when did that previous tragedy happen?

[Blood of Tyrants]

Slashing has nothing to do with getting struck in the neck with an ice skate blade.

[rlmorel]

I think that was back in the late Eighties. He was a good goalie. I was playing goalie at the time, so it was kind of disconcerting. Before that, I had ended up wearing both an armored neck guard that wrapped around my neck like a turtleneck and employing a neck shield that hung from the bottom of my cage.

But it made me think...

[rlmorel]

Those “Halloween” style masks provided some protection, but I knew a guy who wore them, and said it still felt like getting hit in the naked face that a puck.

I had a full cage, and even though I got hit once hard enough to make me wonder how I ended up on the ice, it provided pretty good protection.

[rlmorel]

Ugh. I can’t imagine seeing THAT in living color. Poor guy. I think he had some psychological problems before that, but they really never left him after that.