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MINNEAPOLIS — On Friday night, dangling from the hockey glass above the away bench at Mariucci Arena – a number 7 jersey from the University of Minnesota – Duluth.
It’s a number fans knew before this week as the old number of two-time captain, Adam Johnson. Now, the world knows his name after he was tragically killed in a game in England when a skate sliced his neck.
Before the puck dropped at Mariucci, the Gopher Mens Hockey Team honored Johnson with a moment of silence.
The Hibbing native and Mr. Hockey finalist played college hockey for the Bulldogs before going on to play for the Pittsburg Penguins organization. His former teammate Riley Tufte remembers him as someone who could light up any room.
Since Johnson’s death, there have been serious conversations about safety happening across the hockey world. Warroad High School star turned pro hockey player TJ Oshie, launched a neck guard last month as part of a clothing collection. It sold out this week.
“My motivation was for the youth,” said Oshie after he says a boy died from a similar neck injury last year.
“I think one death is one too many,” said Oshie.
Oshie became one of the first NHL players to wear a neck guard when he put on his own product on Wednesday.
Since Monday, Oshie has received hundreds of texts from other NHL players asking for neck guards.
“We need more people like that to lead the way,” Gopher Hockey color analyst, Pat Micheletti said.
Governing hockey entities Canada and Sweden mandate guards for amateurs, and European leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation have rules too. However, none of the major leagues in the U.S. require neck guards. USA Hockey recommends them and has gone under fire this week for not recommending a mandate.
On Friday, USA Hockey said in a statement they’re reviewing research and consulting with equipment manufacturers on enhancing safety. The U.S.A. Hockey Foundation has funded a handful of studies that have been published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine on the effectiveness of neck guards. Studies say most neck guards only worked in low-impact situations.
“It took something like this to really get people thinking about safety issues in the game,” Micheletti said.
The English Ice Hockey Association announced players will be required to wear a neck guard starting next year. The Pittsburg Penguins organizations also came out saying they will have their minor league teams wear them.
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