Jets players continue to mourn tragic loss of Adam Johnson

Winnipeg Jets defenceman Neal Pionk is still in the early stages of grieving his friend and former teammate, Adam Johnson, who died tragically on Oct. 28 during a professional hockey game in England.

The 29-year-old Johnson, a former Pittsburgh Penguins forward, was playing his seventh game of his first season with the Nottingham Panthers in the Elite Ice Hockey League when his neck was cut by the skate blade of Matt Petgrave of the Sheffield Steelers during an on-ice collision. Johnson succumbed to his injury at Northern General Hospital in Sheffield later that night.

“It still doesn’t feel real. You just wake up every day hoping that it’s a bad dream,” said Pionk.

Pionk and teammates Alex Iafallo and Dylan Samberg, who played with Johnson at various levels of hockey, spoke to assembled Winnipeg media for the first time since Johnson’s death.

“The mornings have been hardest – getting through the mornings. Coming to the rink has been good; it’s been a good distraction. It’s been a whirlwind, the last 10 days,” said Pionk, who’s played five games since Johnson’s death and has found a measure of refuge in his profession.

“It’s hard to even think about the game or even postgame because I go home and all I think about is him. All I think about is his family. I sit on the couch, that’s all I think about. I try to text friends, call friends and I don’t even think about the game, really, when I go home. So maybe it’s for the best – think less and just play.”

Pionk says he has been consulting the Jets’ team psychologist and will continue to work with him to process his grief.

“It’s been helpful because you don’t prepare for anything like this. You lose one of your best friends so suddenly, so tragically, you got to find somebody to talk to, so he’s been helpful.”

What also proved to be especially helpful for Pionk, Iafallo, Samberg and Jets centre Dominic Toninato was attending Johnson’s funeral and celebration of life in his hometown of Hibbing, Minn., last Sunday and Monday.

True North Sports and Entertainment Executive Chairman Mark Chipman arranged for the four Jets players to fly from Arizona to Minnesota to honour Johnson, then meet the team in St. Louis for their game against the Blues on Tuesday, Nov. 7. That night at the Enterprise Center, Pionk scored at 16:15 of the first period and was overcome with emotion when he returned to the bench.

“That was no coincidence. His mom asked me to speak (at Johnson’s celebration of life) and I couldn’t have been more honoured, So, you go to speak at something like that and then you come back to a game and score a goal? There’s no coincidence in that. I don’t score that often and (Johnson) would always make fun of me. He would always say, ‘OMG, that’s such a lucky goal,’ after I scored, so it’s little stuff – everything I do, everything on a day-to-day basis that I think of him.”

Chipman’s empathetic gesture resonated deeply with the grieving players.

“Forever grateful. I can’t put that into words. It’s like, you know, we would’ve gotten there regardless but we would spend only 8-10  hours there. With the charter – and I can’t thank Mark Chipman enough – we got to spend over 24 hours there. So, the fact that there was zero hesitation, (Chipman) basically said, ‘Whatever you need, whenever you need it, it’s there.’ Boom, and I was overwhelmed. It was greatly appreciated, said Pionk.

Iafallo echoed Pionk’s gratitude.

“A huge amount of respect for them. I could thank them a hundred times over for letting us go there and miss practice to go to the funeral and celebrate his life. I can’t thank them enough more for letting us do that and setting everything up for us.”

Beyond donning a neck guard after Johnson’s fatal accident, Pionk says he isn’t wearing or displaying any mementos in his dressing room stall to commemorate his friend. Johnson lives in Pionk’s daily routines.

“Everything on the ice, whether it’s the way he tied his skates, the way he skated,” said Pionk, who experienced an emotional flashback during the Jets’ morning skate on Oct. 30 in preparation for the New York Rangers–Jets first game following Johnson’s death.

“I started tearing up and started crying because I shot a puck into the net and on the first summer skate of every year, he would shoot a puck into the net, come up to me and shoulder me and say, ‘I still go it, hey?’. So, it’s little stuff like that. It makes me laugh but also gets you sad and emotional, too. So, that’s been the challenge of it. Every little thing I do – the way I tape my stick, he used to make fun of that. So, when I’m taping my stick I can just hear him scoffing at me, doing something like that. It’s everything I do. I always think of him and I always think of his family.”

Pionk and Johnson’s friendship began when they played together on the Hibbing High School’s elite league team, grew through two years of junior with the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL, plus two years at the University of Minnesota Duluth. The two friends were roommates during and after college and continued to do off-season training together in their native Minnesota once they turned pro. Pionk said he would go to Johnson’s hometown at least twice every summer to stay with his friend’s parents, a practice he intends to keep.

“They’re going through a lot and they’ve been real strong through the whole thing. I can’t even imagine. Like, what I feel, they’re probably feeling times ten. So, it’ll be important for me to stay in touch with them. Like I said, he was like a brother to me. He was a groomsman at my wedding and I know he had plans for me to be in his wedding, and that was gonna’ be upcoming.”

The fact that Johnson was planning to get married in addition to finishing his university education in England in preparation of starting his post-hockey career next year makes his loss even harder to fathom.

“He was ready to build his life and move on from hockey. I know that was tough for him but to see that his life was gonna’ go into kids and have a family like that is, it’s heartbreaking. For that to happen to such a great guy and great family, it just sucks,” said Iafallo.