Demand for neck guards grows following tragic death of former NHL player

Neck guards are at the forefront of hockey safety discussions and the demand for protective equipment has skyrocketed following the death of a former NHL player Adam Johnson.

Johnson, 29, who was a former Pittsburgh Penguins player suffered a fatal slash to the neck during the second period of a game in England with the Nottingham Panthers on Oct. 28.

The Nottingham Panthers described his death as a freak accident.

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CHCH News spoke with a sports medicine physician who is encouraging players to wear neck guards because out of all the sports he deals with hockey is the one that worries him the most when it comes to neck injuries like this.

Sports medicine physician David Levy says hockey can be a dangerous sport for many reasons.

“You have people of all different skating abilities, sliding around on slippery surfaces with razor blades strapped to the soles of their shoes, they’re moving quickly, they’re holding sticks with curved blades which can go in all different directions when they’re falling or turning and they’re shooting a hard piece of rubber which can go at a trajectory to the head, face, neck.”

Now the demand for equipment designed to prevent this sort of tragedy has spiked.

Hamilton-based Aegis Impact Protection makes a variety of neck guards designed to prevent cuts and impacts. “The orders went crazy, and the queries from all over the world, we’ve gotten orders from every spot of the globe.”

Neck guards are mandatory in the Ontario Hockey League, as well as the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Others are following suit after Johnson’s death, including the Western Hockey League in Canada and the England Ice Hockey Association.

Neck guards are not mandatory in the NHL but there have been calls from many to open the discussion.

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In a statement sent to CHCH News, Hockey Canada says it strongly encourages the use of neck guards for all participants regardless of age including members of its national teams.

It already requires neck guards for all players in Hockey Canada-sanctioned minor hockey and female hockey and all of them must be BNQ certified.