VANCOUVER – Casey DeSmith had that post-game adrenaline players get after the Vancouver Canucks’ overtime thriller Saturday against the New York Rangers.
DeSmith was in net for the Canucks, who rallied twice on Hockey Night in Canada, dominated the Rangers in overtime and had chances to win before a controversial non-call helped New York escape with a 4-3 victory.
It was the kind of boisterous, electric, roller-coaster game that players love as much as fans do. It felt like a really big night. And then it didn’t.
After the game, DeSmith checked his phone and saw a message from an old goaltending buddy, Mike Robinson, a former college teammate at the University of New Hampshire. Robinson now plays for the Nottingham Panthers in Britain’s top professional league.
Robinson informed DeSmith that a Nottingham player, Adam Johnson, who had been a teammate of DeSmith when the players were developing in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ organization a few years ago, had had his throat cut by a skate during a game against the Sheffield Steelers.
The Panthers announced to the hockey world the next day that Adam Johnson, a 29-year-old chasing his dream, had died.
“Tragic is really the only word that can describe something like that,” DeSmith said Monday after the Canucks dressing room had emptied following a practice at Rogers Arena. “He was just a great kid. Minnesota kid, incredibly nice. He always treated everybody so well around the rink. Kind heart, just a great kid. You don’t want that to happen to anyone but especially not to somebody like that. I found out Saturday night after the game. I just laid in bed in shock, really.
“You know, it’s a crazy game sometimes — a lot of scary collisions and stuff. But the vast majority of the time, the person comes out on the other side. It’s just such a shocking, rare accident. It’s something that kind of makes you think, every time we come to the rink, you just never know with this game that we play. I just feel so sad and empathetic for those close to him. And him being away from home, across the ocean, when it happened, too — that’s really difficult.”
The Penguins organization, for whom Johnson spent three seasons after going undrafted out of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, is in mourning after Sunday’s stunning news.
Johnson spent most of his time riding the buses with teammates on the Penguins’ minor-league team, Wilkes-Barre, but logged 13 games in the National Hockey League.
It’s not like everyone knows everyone in professional hockey, but neither are there six degrees of separation. Most players in the NHL will know someone who played or skated with Johnson, even if they didn’t.
There is also a direct connection between Pittsburgh and Vancouver, where Canucks president Jim Rutherford, general manager Patrik Allvin and head coach Rick Tocchet are Penguins alumni.
Canucks defenceman Carson Soucy, who played with Johnson at Minnesota-Duluth, was unable Monday to speak to reporters, his emotions still too raw.
Canucks forward Sam Lafferty was a rookie in Wilkes-Barre in the second of Johnson’s three seasons there between 2017 and 2020.
Lafferty and Johnson were linemates on the Penguins’ fourth line when each, incredibly, scored his first NHL goal during Pittsburgh’s 7-4 win against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 12, 2019.
“Yesterday, kind of our whole team we had in Wilkes-Barre, guys just were sharing different stories about Johnny,” Lafferty, 28, told Sportsnet. “Pretty much everybody had one to share. Especially in the American League, you spend so much time together. It seems like you’re younger and you spend even more time together than in the NHL, away from the rink and at the rink. Everybody just had a funny story to share, just a good memory, heartwarming. I’m glad we were able to do that yesterday.
“On the surface, Johnny was a pretty quiet guy. But once you got to know him, he was just a really funny character, fun to be around. He always ended up being at the center of the mix, guys chirping and having fun in the room. He was just one of those guys that make it fun going to the rink throughout the long days of winter. We had a really close team. It was my rookie year in Wilkes-Barre. He was a great human being and a great hockey player.”
Lafferty stuck with the Penguins for most of that 2019-20 season, but Johnson was sent back to Wilkes-Barre. Johnson’s final NHL game was Oct. 22 – 10 days after his lone NHL goal.
“Adam came to the Penguins at a time when it was very hard to crack our lineup,” Rutherford said. “But he was just a terrific person. He had really good speed and was hard-working. This is just a very sad situation. Like always when something like this happens, it sets you back.”
Lafferty said he and Johnson shared the same agent, Peter Rutili, who sent the Canuck a photo Sunday from the night when Lafferty and Johnson scored their first NHL goals.
“It was a picture of us together after the game and it’s something I still remember very well, just a few years ago,” Lafferty said. “You just. . . you think back to all those good times you had together. You grieve, you remember him. You feel all those things.
“I think the best way to celebrate him is to go out there and play your heart out. It gives you perspective that nothing’s permanent. It makes you want to appreciate every day and enjoy them that much more. I think that’s what Johnny would want us to do.”
The Canucks play the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
