Adam Johnson: Police issue update on man arrested for manslaughter of ice hockey star
Teammate tells of trauma of witnessing former NHL star die while playing for Nottingham Panthers
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Adam Johnson’s teammate has spoken of the trauma of witnessing the tragic death of the ice hockey player as a man arrested on suspicion of manslaughter was re-bailed.
The 29-year-old former NHL star was killed when his throat was cut by a skate blade while he was playing for Nottingham Panthers against Sheffield Steelers on 28 October.
The incident took place at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena in front of a crowd of 8,000 people.
Victor Bjorkung had just played a pass to his teammate Mr Johnson, whom he paid tribute to as an “unbelievable guy”, before he watched the tragedy unfold. He said: “I think about it every day, more or less. I get a lot of flashbacks, and they’re not very pleasant.”
Despite the efforts of medical teams who performed CPR on the player, Mr Johnson was later pronounced dead in hospital.
South Yorkshire Police later arrested a man on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the incident. On Tuesday, he was re-bailed while the investigation continues.
Mr Bjorkung, who left the team a few weeks after the traumatising incident, said most of the players were in tears upon returning to the locker room. He told the BBC on Tuesday: “A lot of the trauma I’ve been dealing with and all my teammates I’ve been speaking to after I left, it’s not easy.”
After suffering his own laceration injury, his calls for safer clothing in the sport have only intensified.
In January, Sheffield’s senior coroner Tanyka Rawden suspended her investigation into the American’s death for the police investigation.
However, Ms Rawden issued a Prevention of Future Deaths Report to Ice Hockey UK and the English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA) about the use of neck guards in the sport.
She said she was “sufficiently concerned” that deaths in the sport could occur without the use of neck guards or protectors.
The EIHA made neck guards mandatory this year, but the Elite League in which the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers compete, is not under its control.
The Elite Ice Hockey League previously said it will not make the use of neck guards mandatory, but would “strongly encourage” players and officials to wear them.
Mr Johnson’s death shocked the world of ice hockey. In a special tribute to the star, fans and teammates paid an emotional tribute the week after the incident with an Adam Johnson Memorial Game at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.
Minnesota-born Johnson played for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League before spending the 2020-21 season in Sweden with the Malmo Redhawks.
He went on to play in Canada for the Ontario Reign and in Germany for the Augsburger Panther before agreeing to join Nottingham for the 2023-24 campaign.