[Bearcat]

Oddly stated article... we can't tell you who they arrested, but there's only one person who they would have arrested...

Man arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in Adam Johnson's death

Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
Nov 14, 2023, 12:44 PM ET
A man was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in the death of former NHL player Adam Johnson, the South Yorkshire (England) Police announced Tuesday.

The arrest comes more than two weeks since police began investigating the incident that led to Johnson's death on Oct. 28. Johnson was playing for the Nottingham Panthers in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) when his throat was cut by a skate blade during a collision in a Champions Cup game in Sheffield, England, against the Sheffield Steelers. Johnson was 29.

South Yorkshire Police said in a statement that a postmortem examination confirmed Johnson died from a fatal neck injury. The man, whose identity was not released by the police, remains in custody.

"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," South Yorkshire Chief Superintendent Becs Horsfall said. "We have been speaking to highly specialised experts in their field to assist in our enquiries and continue to work closely with the health and safety department at Sheffield City Council, which is supporting our ongoing investigation."

The player whose skate blade cut Johnson's neck was Matt Petgrave, 31, who plays for Sheffield.

Johnson's death has since prompted a number of different leagues throughout the sport to examine their player safety measures when it comes to potentially using neck protection devices.

It started when the English Ice Hockey Association announced two days after Johnson's death that it would make neck guards mandatory starting in 2024 as part of a three-step plan.

While any mandates at the NHL level would need to be agreed upon by the NHL Players' Association, there have been NHL players who started wearing neck guards at practices and in games.

Johnson's former NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, said it would mandate that its AHL and ECHL affiliates wear neck protection devices. A few days later, the Western Hockey League announced that it would be making neck protection devices mandatory for its players.