Major incident at the Steelers tonight

They are looking to introduce neck guards voluntarily for the rest of this season.
Mandatory for next.

 

I believe it's going to me voluntary until the new year, then mandatory from the new year onwards.

 

That's for the EIHA not the EIHL.

Think of it like EFL and Premier League. Except EIHA also governs semi-pro, amateur and junior games in addition to lower league.

 

That’s the point (which I didn’t make very well admittedly). The jury is out as to how effective the current protection is.

I’m not aware of any other recent incident. If there has been then of course that throws a different light in it as well.

 

I’m not wanting to do anything, I just find the collision bizarre, the way his leg goes up in a kicking motion. If that’s common on an ice rink, the way momentum does that then why aren’t neck guards already mandatory across the sport?

 

Does this not apply. ? It appears a collaborative outlook.
Also the EFL and PL are under the umbrella of the FA. Who sit on Eufa and Fifa.

2023/24 DOPS Handbook released
We are thrilled to announce the release of the new EIHA Department of Player Safety (DOPS) Handbook – a comprehensive guide designed to govern and improve the state of player safety in ice hockey across all levels.

This launch is a result of a collaborative endeavour involving key stakeholders from the English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA), Ice Hockey UK (IHUK), and the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) senior management teams.

Some top leagues throughout europe make neck guards mandatory.

 

I'm actually not sure now. It looks like the DOPS handbook is, but on the EIHA update where they announce the neck guards they don't mention EIHL. The EIHL has their own DOPS so I'm not really sure how it works now.

 

To be fair, the first person who did that apologised unreservedly, deleted his post, and took responsibility for making a mistake. As much as I didn't like what he he originally wrote, I'm also guilty of making mistakes in my life, and I haven't always acted as maturely and responsibly as he did after doing so.

 

I’ve not commented on anything on social media or on here but here’s my thoughts for anyone who’s interested. I’ve played and watched hockey for many years so have some reasonably good experience.

I wasn’t there, my Son was and I have seen the video.
Firstly the incident itself, Matt is a lovely guy and I can’t imagine what he’s going through.
Petgrave looked to backcheck and tie up the first panthers player into the defensive zone but missed and got bumped slightly. It looks like this caused his right skate to pick into the ice causing his body to twist and his left let to kick up. Unfortunately Johnson was the trailer on the play and was caught high up by his skate.

In 25 years of playing Ice and In-line hockey I’ve seen players get spun quite regularly but the speed, angle and momentum seems to have been a perfect storm.

Neck guards are mandatory upto u18s as are cages.
They do offer reasonable protection to juniors but very limited for adults.
As an aside PuckStop in Sheffield sold out of their neck guards (a months supply) after the incident!
I personally never wore a neck guard, they are uncomfortable and hot. I’m not 100% sure one would have saved Adam in this instance.
In fact I’m that old I don’t have to wear a visor or cage and don’t as a personal preference.

apologies if this is a bit muddled, very tired!

 

Thank you Pontered. I hope your comments as someone who played and knows the game will educate those who think there was any skullduggery involved.

I’ve only ever heard nice things about Matt myself, and he was so upset when it happened, getting dragged away by a team mate clearly in floods of tears. I don’t know how the poor lad will get over it to be honest.

 

Thanks for going to the trouble to write that from a more knowledgeable perspective than most of us.

I used to watch hockey quite a bit when I first moved to St Petersburg, but my technical understanding of the game is nowhere near yours. I do however have an interest in the safety aspect of this incident as my daughter figure skates to a reasonably high level and actually trains at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham. I also occasionally skate myself, albeit very badly.

I hadn't considered that Petgrave's skate might have momentarily got caught in the ice, but anyone who's ever skated, especially on ice which has been cut up a lot, will know how badly it affects your control even at lower speeds. I can well imagine what it does to you when travelling at the speeds reached in a hockey match. Professional skater or not, you can't overcome the laws of physics.

 

It was also near the end of the second period. The Ice gets resurfaced between periods so it was about the roughest it ever is during a game.

 

I saw the thread earlier.
My partner confirmed the tradegy later.
Not once or in the future do I want to watch the video.
Maybe my head in the sand or the fact I find it heart breaking to all who witnessed this.
Some great posts on here with common sense input , especially the ex ice skater giving myself who as no knowledge whatsoever about the sport .
Condolences to the family , and special thoughts to anyone who witnessed this.
The player involved must be going through he'll, puts everything in perspective regards our views on our team.
The bsb board is a good place .
Long this continue.

 

This is one of Adam’s teammates. This collaborates my view of the incident.

 

Social media can be toxic , much sympathy to all concerned.
Terrible tradegy.

 

Of course it looks strange to the untrained eye but unless you follow the sport you shouldn’t really be commenting on it as you don’t understand the movements of the players.

I feel like I can comment on whether a footballer has tried to ‘do’ another player because I watch & play a lot of football. I wouldn’t dream of suggesting an ice hockey players tried to ‘do’ another ice hockey player because I don’t have any real understanding of the sport.

 

I think that's a great assessment and accurate.

I don't play hockey, I don't watch it regularly.

I will say (and risk the abuse) that to the untrained eye it does to me very much look like a kick aimed at the poor fella who lost his life. I DO NOT for a second think it was a kick aimed at his neck but it could have been a kick aimed for mid section that went awry. That's how it 'looks' on seeing the video.

However, as you have said, how it looks to an untrained eye and what actually happened can be very different things. Ultimately the Police will investigate and I am sure that they will take statements that will include questions of being knocked off balance and so on.

The saddest thing for me is that a relatively cheap piece of PPE could have saved this poor man's life. Seems incredible that it is required, particularly when it's not the first time this has happened.

 

I do get how it looks, and there are plenty of people making noise with that opinion.
If you watch the video, you can see the forward Panthers player extend his stick/arm towards Petgrave obstructing him causing the spin.
If the play hadn’t ended in tragedy I would have been calling for an interference penalty on the first player.
The fact that the Nottingham Panthers players have come out in support for Matt Petgrave probably speaks volumes.

 

I think Pontered sums things up well. I consider myself a ‘trained eye’ and to many who know the sport well would have been surprised with a ‘what the heck happened there’ moment. They would go on to articulate the context and make sense of it. Even for people who know the sport it would be hard as this was of course an unusual and freak situation. Some may not have the knowledge and experience to see this for what it is. The sad thing is when people then invent the scenarios and take the narrative down the completely wrong rabbit hole. It is doubly heartbreaking to see this response in some channels.

 

Sounds like he was due to propose to his missus soon too as had bought a ring horrific situation.