A youth hockey camp in Minnesota has recently announced the establishment of the Adam Johnson Memorial Scholarship in honor of the late 29-year-old player. Johnson tragically passed away in October due to a skate cut to the neck during a game in England.
Adam Johnson was actively involved in the Bulldog Hockey Camp in Duluth, Minnesota during his youth. The scholarship has been created to provide financial assistance to a young player whose family may not have the means to participate in the camp. Christian Koelling, the camp director and University of Minnesota-Duluth men’s hockey operations director, shared that the concept of the scholarship originated from Johnson’s family as a way to commemorate his legacy.
“Adam was someone who was very important to me personally, along with the UMD hockey program and the Duluth community and Iron Range community,” Koelling expressed. “As a hockey player, he was such a unique talent, and as a person, he was just so memorable. He really made an impact on us from a very young age.”
Koelling, alongside his wife Jennie and the memorial fund, will cover the £500 enrollment fee for a weeklong camp at UMD’s arena this summer. Johnson not only participated in these camps during his youth, but he also worked at the camp while attending the school from 2015-17.
“His dad played at UMD, so our coaching staff knew Adam from a very young age,” Koelling explained. “We got to watch him grow up in Hibbing and come to our hockey camps and work with him there, and then to have him come and play for the Bulldogs for two years before moving on and having a nice pro career, which included achieving the lifelong goal of any northern Minnesotan hockey player to play in the NHL.”
After making his NHL debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2019, Johnson played 13 games with them before transitioning to the American Hockey League and then to Europe. He spent time in Sweden and Germany before joining the Nottingham Panthers of the United Kingdom’s Elite Ice Hockey League last year.
Tragically, Johnson’s passing brought attention to the importance of cut-resistant gear in hockey, particularly neck and wrist guards. This raised discussions about the continued evolution of equipment that can help prevent similar incidents in the sport. The International Ice Hockey Federation and USA Hockey have now implemented mandates for neck laceration protection, while the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association have been actively studying skate cut injuries.
Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly of the NHL mentioned during the league’s pre-Stanley Cup Final news conference this month, “Obviously, the events of this year kind of opened everybody’s eyes and brought a much bigger focus on it.”
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