When I first heard about Adam Johnson’s death, all I heard from level-headed types was that it was a one-in-a-million freak accident. I’ve watched and rewatched and rewatched and slowed down and rewatched the hit several times now… and man. I don’t know what I’m looking at. My ultimate conclusion is that it looks like Petgrave was intent on laying a huge hit on Johnson, took a bit of a poor angle and was going too fast, got a little off balance… and this is where it all goes wrong.
I think Petgrave knew that he was going to either miss Johnson entirely or just give him a glancing blow. In a last ditch/split second attempt to get more body on Johnson, Petgrave throws his left leg out a bit. He was going too fast and his legs went higher than intended. He didn’t try to kill Johnson, but he did try to lay a dangerous hit on him. I really, really don’t see how a toe pick ends up with Petgrave in the position he was.
Guys with games like Petgrave’s are a dime a dozen in lower level hockey. He’s fast and big and plays on the edge, but he also kinda sucks and can do some serious damage if the circumstances are just right.
Maybe there’s some higher-quality footage that will change my mind. But in what I can make it, Petgrave’s skates went from \\ to = in basically an instant. Which shouldn’t happen.