Per head coach Mike Sullivan, the Pittsburgh Penguins organization is going to require all athletes playing for their American Hockey League and East Coast Hockey League affiliates to wear neck guards and wrist guards in the wake of former Penguin Adam Johnson’s death while playing in Europe this weekend.

While playing in the Elite Ice Hockey League, the United Kingdom’s top league, Johnson tragically passed away after his neck was cut accidentally by an opposing player’s skates. Johnson received medical attention on the ice and was transported to a nearby hospital, but he did not survive his injuries.

Johnson appeared in 13 NHL games for the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, and scored his first NHL goal in front of his family and friends in Minnesota on October 12th, 2019.

The tragedy rocked the hockey world. Several teams here in North America honored Johnson’s life and memory in various ways, and the Penguins held a ceremony for him in their first game since his death.

The incident in England has caused widespread conversations around the hockey world about the use of neck guards to try and prevent an accident like this from happening. The English Ice Hockey Association, the governing body for ice hockey in England, has already announced the mandate of neck guards by the start of the new year.

The only reason it is not immediate is because of anticipated supply and demand issues.

Some AHL players have also already started taking the precaution as well. Several members of the AHL’s Providence Bruins wore neck guards in their first game since the news. Seth Appert, head coach of the Rochester Americans, said that his team has ordered additional neck guards, along with the base layer shirt-neck guard combination.

The Penguins organization is also taking steps to prevent something like this from ever happening. Head coach Mike Sullivan said today that the team will require neck guards/protection for all of their AHL and ECHL players moving forward.

“We’re in the process right now of trying to talk to our players about some protective equipment in those areas,” Sullivan told the Trib yesterday. “Our (AHL) team has mandated that they’re going to wear neck guards and wrist guards. Our (ECHL) team as well.”

The team is also heavily encouraging their NHL players to wear them as well, but they cannot mandate that without approval from the NHL Players’ Association. However, with the NHL themselves also encouraging the use of guards or other forms of cut-resistant material, the idea of additional protection for players ia already in the mainstream.

That conversation has spread across the league. Vancouver Canucks head coach Rich Tocchet, who also served as an assistant coach here in Pittsburgh for a number of years, agreed at looking into the idea of neck guards.

Former Penguin Teddy Blueger, who was teammates with Adam Johnson during his time in the NHL, said he wouldn’t be surprised to see more players wearing it and that it’s definitely something worth looking into.

As for the NHLPA themselves, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has said that the NHL has already approached the NHLPA about the issue. Ultimately, however, it would be up to the Players’ Association to make a concrete decision regarding the matter.

Neck guards are not unheard of in the NHL. Though a vast majority of players have abandoned those measures years ago by the time they are playing in the NHL, longtime NHLer Tomáš Plekanec wore a “turtleneck” type of protection around his neck when he played.

In addition to neck guards, the Penguins will require wrist guards/protection for AHL and ECHL players as well, which is a commonly vulnerable area for hockey players. Edmonton’s Evander Kane suffered a serious injury last year when he was cut on the wrist by a skate blade in a game. Kane was taken to the hospital and had a procedure done on the cut. He missed months of action as a result.

“As a league, we can work toward developing just more options for the guys in the protective department with respect to these areas,” Sullivan said. “Hopefully, there will be an initiative here moving forward. That could be one of the positive things that could come out of this terrible, terrible tragedy.”

(Featured photo of the Penguins’ ceremony for Adam Johnson by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images)