NHL rallies around safety after Adam Johnson tragedy

Following the tragic death of former NHL player Adam Johnson after a 'freak accident' during a game in England, there is growing consensus around the need for neck guards at all levels of hockey.

Video Transcript

SAMANTHA CHANG: But I'm fascinated by the conversation that has come out from this, where people are wondering how long until we mandate neck guards for professional hockey players in North America. There are European leagues that have it. The English Ice Hockey Association mandated it for their players starting December 31st. How long until we see NHL players doing this?

- Uh--

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: [INAUDIBLE]

- Oh, Avry go, go.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Go ahead, Avry.

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: It should be tomorrow. It should be tomorrow. Unfortunately, I saw the incident. I never wanna see it again. It's horrific-- it's horrific to watch. Tomorrow. Like, I don't wanna see another player have to have this happen to them ever again. We saw some guys in NHL wearing neck guards. It's your neck. It's a very, very important area of your body that should have been protected a long time ago. We shouldn't have these discussions anymore. We already saw what happened to Clint Malarchuk, Richard Zednik, and now Adam Johnson. Like, it should be tomorrow that we see it mandated in the NHL. It really should be.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Yeah. I'm of the same agreement. I think that the sooner we have this the better. I don't know what the process will be like for the NHL to make it work. But. I think just the idea that we've seen all these innovations with helmets, and visors, and even wrist guards, to this point, I think it just makes sense to me to see that happen with neck stuff.

I'm really intrigued at the fact that pros, when they outgrow minor hockey, they get to a point where it just doesn't feel comfortable. Like, I've never been at that point where I could kind of, you know, attest to why it feels uncomfortable. But I'm fascinated at how people-- like, I read a story in "The Athletic," about how [INAUDIBLE] had heard about an incident with the kid getting cut in the neck by a skate blade. And it looked into all, like, neck guard protection stuff, and still didn't wear it. And then it took this incident with Adam Johnson for him to be, like, oh, you know what, maybe I should do this again.

Like, this is-- it's really intriguing to me. Omar, if you wanna say something, I'll let you have the floor.

- Yeah. I think just the interesting thing is the comfort aspect as to why a lot of people-- like, regardless of, like, the level, whether it's just, like, you know, professional leagues or just, like, you know, if you're a casual player at a rec league or something. A lot of people mention the comfort aspect of it.

And I think that's what I'm interested to see. Maybe this can be one of the first steps where they finally say, OK, well, you know what, like, this is something that's necessary. But a lot of people are saying that it's uncomfortable. So why is it uncomfortable, and how could we get it to a point where if players do wear this while they're playing, then it doesn't feel like an adherence, or it doesn't feel like it's an irritant, or it holds them back, just so it's easy to wear.

Because, you know, to Avry's point, like, it's safety, at the end of the day. And, you know-- and I don't think the NHL should have to wait until something like this happens in the League to take a step in that direction. So, yeah, I'm interested to see how they go about it as well.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Sam, do you want last word?

SAMANTHA CHANG: Yeah. I mean, I think, whenever these things happen, I always think about how shocking it is that-- I mean, I get it. It's a thing-- it's largely players saying they don't want to wear these things, that they're uncomfortable. But, like, you grow up wearing a ton of gear, a ton of protection.

Like, I remember, you know, like this isn't the first time we've seen these freak accidents happen. Like, I remember Tucker Tynan getting his thigh sliced playing in the NHL a couple years ago. And it's-- it's crazy to me that you're playing on blades that are this sharp and that you'd just rather be comfortable then kind of take every precaution you can.

And get that it's rare, it's a freak accident. But this strikes me as just another one of those uniquely NHL, NHLPA issues, where they don't really seem to actually prioritize the safety of players. Like, to me, this is something the PA should be all over. And, you know, I think probably their position is, you know, players don't wanna do it. So, like, what are you gonna do about it?

And I don't-- like, I don't know how you get around that-- that mentality. And I just-- yeah, I didn't see the video. I hope I never see the video.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Me Either.

SAMANTHA CHANG: And I just gotta say that for all the, like, right-wing freaks out there who are, like, threatening [INAUDIBLE] with his-- like, threatening him and, like, making this about race, you can burn in hell. I don't care. Like, shut up.