Police in England have announced that a man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter on Tuesday following the death of former NHL player Adam Johnson.
During an EIHL game on October 28, Johnson’s neck was cut by Matt Petgrave’s skate in what was deemed a freak accident. Fans were told to leave the arena after the incident, and the game was cancelled.
Early the following day, the Nottingham Panthers announced that Johnson had died as a result of the injury. He was 29.
“Officers investigating the death of Nottingham Panthers player Adam Johnson have made an arrest,” the South Yorkshire Police wrote in a Facebook post. “Detectives have today (Tuesday 14 November) arrested a man on suspicion of manslaughter. He remains in police custody at this time.”
“Our investigation launched immediately following this tragedy and we have been carrying out extensive enquiries ever since to piece together the events which led to the loss of Adam in these unprecedented circumstances,” Detective Chief Superintendent Becs Horsfall said in a statement.
Johnson was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where he played for the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He was undrafted and spent two seasons playing with the Wilkes-Barre Penguins of the AHL before getting called up to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a six-game stint in 2018/19. He would appear in seven more NHL games in Pittsburgh the following season.
He signed on with Nottingham for the 2023/24 season, recording seven points in seven games before the tragic injury.
Johnson’s passing has since prompted multiple tributes across the hockey world and has sparked a movement for more neck protection in the game.
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With files from Preston Hodgkinson