Adam Johnson’s ‘freak’ hockey death sparks debate over neck protection

This day eight years ago still remains vivid in Krisa Keute’s memory. His oldest son, Cole, was 11 and playing a summer hockey game in Duluth. A teammate took a powerful slap shot and kicked him in the leg.

“And his skate hit Cole’s jaw. And Cole suffered a lacerating wound to his upper neck,” recalled Keude, a doctor. She quickly rushed Cole to the emergency room. It took 19 stitches to sew up the gash.

“I guess it was just very emotional. It seems like it’s something that probably could be avoided. So it’s something we’ll never forget,” Keute said.

Afterward, Keute made sure Cole and his younger brother wore neck laceration protectors. But many of their teammates, she said, didn’t.

“It’s a beautiful and wonderful sport with a lot of pride and tenacity that we like to wear on our sleeve, but there is also the reality that we are vulnerable and can get injured. I don’t think buying a protective guard neck really is an unrealistic expectation for any parent or any player.”

Keute said she received a flood of text messages from people around Duluth after former University of Minnesota Duluth star Adam Johnson died in what’s called a “a freak accident” on October 28, when his neck was cut by a hockey skate during a game in an English hockey league where Johnson was playing in Europe.

Since Johnson’s death, some organizations now requiring players to wear protection against neck lacerations, including the English league where he played. The Pittsburgh Penguins – the NHL club Johnson briefly played for earlier in his career – also mandated them for their minor league affiliates. Canadian youth leagues have needed this for a long time.

But that’s not the case for most Minnesota youth leagues, including the state high school league. They tend to defer to USA Hockey, which recommends players wear them, but does not require it.

Officials with Minnesota Hockey, which oversees youth and amateur hockey in the state, declined an interview request. “Studies conducted by USA Hockey in conjunction with its medical advisors have concluded to recommend but not mandate the use of neck laceration equipment,” the organization said in a statement posted on its website after Johnson’s death.

“We encourage parents and players to determine for themselves what is best for the player in this regard.”

“It just makes me less afraid.”

Recently at Mars Lakeview Arena in Duluth, players from the Marshall School girls’ hockey team skated on the ice, practicing passes and shots, the sound of pucks echoing off the boards.

Coach Callie Hoff, 24, grew up playing youth hockey nearby. She said she encourages her players to wear neck protection.

“Right now, they’re not mandatory. But if I had to go out on the ice again and play a hockey game, I would definitely have one,” she said. “I just think that this extra measure, they make so many things, between the neck guards and the protective shirts that now go up on the neck, that there is something for everyone and that you can find comfortable.

Despite this approval, only two of his players currently wear them. Under 15-year-old Sydney Erickson’s jersey, she wears what looks like a turtleneck with cut-resistant Kevlar fibers woven into the neck.

“It actually feels really good, and I like it under my gear in case my jersey rides up,” Erickson said. “It protects me on my arms, stomach and neck in case I need to get a stick or skate towards my body.

She said she started wearing it after Connecticut high school player Teddy Balkind died last year when his neck was sliced ​​by a skate blade — an accident that also some have called for neck gaiter requirements.

“Since then, I like it and I feel like I have an extra level of security. And it makes me less afraid on the ice.”

Erickson said several of her teammates wore neck guards but didn’t like wearing them. That’s the experience of Allison Iacone, whose daughter also skates for Marshall.

“They make her hot. And they make her a little claustrophobic. They squeeze her neck.”

Now, she said, they are trying to find better gear she could wear to keep her cool but also safe. Iacone said she wishes a mandate was in place.

“It was a long conversation. Previously, helmets weren’t needed, cages weren’t needed. All of these equipment changes are due to devastating accidents and incidents. And when we know better, we do better. And I think we’re there.

Other parents who spoke to MPR News, including former competitive hockey players, agreed that a requirement should probably be put in place for younger players.

“The odds of that happening, you know, if you do the math and follow the games, there’s a very slim chance of that happening,” said Chris Theis, who grew up playing in Bloomington and is now a coach and serves on the board of directors of a women’s hockey association in Duluth.

“But you have to take these precautions. This can never happen again. And so I think something is going to have to happen. »

Something is better than nothing

A USA Hockey spokesperson said it had received a flurry of questions about neck protection since Johnson’s death and would continue to evaluate whether it was necessary to require them.

For now, the organization continues to only recommend that all players wear a neck guard against lacerations, in addition to cut-resistant socks, sleeves and underwear.

The subject hits close to home for Dr. Michael J. Stuart, USA Hockey’s chief medical and safety officer. Stuart, a professor of orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is also a hockey dad — all three of his sons went on to play collegiate and professional hockey.

On Halloween in 1998, his eldest son Mike suffered a laceration from a skate blade to his neck while he was a freshman at Colorado College. This required 22 stitches.

“So it’s something I’ve been thinking about for many years. And we’ve tried very hard to come up with better certification standards and better equipment to make the protection devices currently available more effective.

Part of the reason USA Hockey does not require neck protection is that there are a wide variety of products available, with a wide range of effectiveness.

There is currently no uniform standard for the design and materials of certified and laboratory-tested neck protectors for ice hockey, as is the case for helmets and face shields.

Stuart said a survey conducted several years ago found that 27 percent of players who suffered or witnessed a skate blade laceration to the neck area actually wore a neck laceration protector. at the time of the injury.

“So, saying we can eliminate this problem by wearing a neck laceration protector? My answer is that I hope we get there one day, but we certainly can’t do it right now.

That being said, Stuart points out that wearing something is better than wearing nothing.

“Personally, I would like to see all the players wear them. But I think we need to have a better “something.” Honestly, I think there is room for improvement.

However, Stuart believes Johnson’s tragic death will encourage more players to choose to wear neck protection, even without obligation.

Neck laceration protectors have been flying off store shelves since Johnson’s death. War Road Hockeya company co-founded by Washington Capitals forward and Minnesota native TJ Oshie sold its cut-resistant neck and wrist base layers.

Krisa Keute, the Duluth doctor whose son was cut in the neck playing hockey eight years ago, acknowledged that while there is no requirement to wear a neck guard, players and parents have the right to choose not to wear one.

“But I look at my two boys and sometimes I see this scar and if I could have avoided this, I would have.”