Manslaughter Arrest in the Death of Former Phantoms Player Adam Johnson
There was a story a few weeks ago about a former Lehigh Valley and Wilkes Barre/Scranton hockey player, Adam Johnson, who was killed after being slashed in the neck by a skate blade while playing in the UK. Now there’s been a manslaughter arrest in the case:
BREAKING: A man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter following the death of Nottingham Panthers player Adam Johnson.
Read more here: https://t.co/5HQDOND5Es
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/6aY46FzpNS
— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 14, 2023
The arrested “man” is Matt Petgrave. UK media and police operate a little differently than we do. They typically won’t name names in these types of cases until official charges are filed.
But yeah, the clip stirred up a lot of controversy at the time, because some people believe Petgrave intentionally went high, making an unnatural motion:
Ice Hockey Death Arrest – Adam Johnson. Police have now arrested the other player for Manslaughter. Guilty or accidental part of the game? 🧐 pic.twitter.com/eaRjmjzzd8
— 🇬🇧RonEnglish🇬🇧🏴 (@RonEng1ish) November 14, 2023
Johnson was 29 years old at the time of his death. He played a few seasons in Wilkes Barre/Scranton, and made it to the NHL level for a handful of games with the Penguins between 2018 and 2020. Johnson went back to the AHL with the Ontario Reign, and was later traded to Lehigh Valley, where he played 30 games in the Flyers’ system before moving on to Europe.
Here are a couple of USA Today photos from the Penguins tribute: