Ex-NHL player Sean Avery says he believes Matt Petgrave was ‘absolutely’ trying to make contact with Adam Johnson – but did not wake up and think ‘I’m gonna murder somebody today’

A former NHL player has said he believes Matt Petgrave ‘absolutely’ tried to make contact with Nottingham Panthers player Adam Johnson – but that he didn’t wake up intending to ‘kill someone today’.

Sheffield Steelers player Petgrave, 31, fatally slit Johnson’s throat with his knife in what has been described as a ‘freak accident’ when they collided during a match in front of 8,000 shocked fans in Sheffield, England.

Former Canadian hockey star Sean Avery has suggested that the Petgrave kick that killed Johnson was intentional, but declined to call it a murder when pressed by Fox host Jesse Watters.

After Watters said Petgrave was a “dirty” player and said it was like “murder,” Avery said, “That’s a pretty dangerous word to throw around.” I’ve seen it, it’s horrible, it’s hard to watch.

Sean Avery has suggested that the Petgrave kick that killed Johnson was intentional, but declined to call it a murder when pressed by Fox host Jesse Watters

Sheffield Steelers player Petgrave, 31, fatally slit Johnson’s throat with his knife in what is described as a ‘freak accident’ when they collided during a match in front of 8,000 shocked fans in Sheffield, England

Nottingham Panthers player Adam Johnson and his fiancée Ryan Wolfe at a family wedding in June 2022

“Did this guy make a move that was very unorthodox? Do I think he was trying to make contact somehow? Absolute.’

Avery added, “Do I think he woke up and said I’m going to kill someone today? No.’

He went on to talk about how the sport needs to rethink the thin titanium blades that currently sit on the bottom of players’ skates.

He added: ‘I saw the blow… I saw the leg move. It shouldn’t have been where it was. It’s terrible. I can’t even watch the video again.’

The ordeal remains under investigation by South Yorkshire Police in England.

Chris Therien, a former Canadian professional ice hockey defenseman, also wrote on

‘I was literally shocked and sickened by what I saw. It seemed intentional. It was a kung fu kick. My eyes don’t lie, tell me I’m wrong.’

Petgrave has played in eight different leagues during his career and has been described as a ‘dirty player’ by Fox presenters and people online.

According to sources, he is currently the Elite Ice Hockey League’s most penalized player in the 2022-2023 competition. EuroHockey.

Petgrave has accumulated a total of 129 PIM, penalty violation minutes.

And between 2013 and 2017, he ranked with 328 career penalty minutes, according to PeaceHockey.

Matt Petgrave joined Sheffield Steelers last year from the Czech HC Dunamo Pardubice

While playing in the Canadian Hockey League in 2010, Petgrave was suspended five games “for a foul in the third period of last Saturday’s 9-4 win over Sarnia.”

And in 2018, he was suspended indefinitely for his conduct in the ECHL in New Jersey.

The league announced: “Matt Petgrave of Brampton has been suspended indefinitely and fined an undisclosed amount as a result of his actions in ECHL Game #963, Brampton at Kalamazoo, on April 7.”

The American Hockey League also suspended Petgrave in 2018, according to their press release at the time: “Laval Rocket defenseman Matt Petgrave has been suspended for one (1) game following a swerving incident during a game in Toronto on March. 28.

‘Petgrave was suspended under the provisions of AHL Rule 21.1 after being assessed a match penalty. He will miss the Laval game tonight (March 30) in Binghamton.”

The Toronto-born Petgrave joined the Steelers last summer from HC Dunamo Pardubice of the Czech Republic, and also recently played for Slovakian team HIK Spisska Nova Ves.

The 6-foot-1 player attended the University of New Brunswick, where he played ice hockey for four seasons before turning pro in 2017.

He joined East Coast Hockey League side Brampton Beast, based in Ontario, that year, and also had spells with Syracuse Crunch, Laval Rocket, Utica Comets, Florida Everblades and Kansas City Mavericks.

Steelers head coach Aaron Fox previously described Petgrave as an “impact player” who can be a “game changer” and play “all positions.”

Last season he was named to the Elite Ice Hockey League all-star team.

At the Penguins game in Pittsburgh tonight, instead of silence, they asked the crowd to give Adam Johnson one last cheer – which was described as “quite a moment.”

Johnson’s throat was slit by Petgrave’s skating blade when they collided during the match.

The incident on Saturday happened in the 35th minute of the Elite Ice Hockey League match at the Nutita Arena in Sheffield. The game was later abandoned.

Footage showed Petgrave ccrashed into one of Johnson’s teammates on Saturday in which he lost his balance before his leg came up and made contact with Johnson’s neck.

Adam Johnson in action for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL in Columbus, Ohio, in 2017

Matt Petgrave (file image) crashed into one of Johnson’s teammates in a collision that caused him to lose his balance before his leg came up and made contact with Johnson’s neck

Adam Johnson and Ryan Wolfe, pictured in July 2022, were engaged this summer

Video of the incident showed Johnson getting to his feet, blood pouring onto the ice. He was helped by a referee and a teammate as he left the rink, but collapsed on the ice.

Johnson’s friend paid tribute to her “sweet, sweet angel,” saying: “I will miss you forever and love you always.”

The 29-year-old briefly stood up, bleeding profusely on the ice, before collapsing again during the match in Sheffield. He received immediate medical attention, with CPR performed on the ice, and was taken to hospital, but could not be saved.

Now his girlfriend Ryan Wolfe has paid tribute on Instagram, posting a photo of him and saying: ‘My sweet, sweet angel. I will miss you forever and love you always.”

Supporters have rallied around ‘distraught’ Matt Petgrave, who accidentally killed Johnson with his boot knife.

After the incident, players formed a shield to hide what happened from the public.

This kind of accident has happened before in hockey. In January 2022, Teddy Balkind, who was in the 10th grade at St Luke’s, a private school in Connecticut, died after his throat was slit by another player’s knife.

The same thing also happened to Clint Malarchuk in 1989, in an NHL game between his Buffalo Bares team and the St. Louis Blues.

Malarchuk survived but required 300 stitches to close a six-inch wound. He lost 1.5 liters of blood.