Thousands gather to remember fallen hockey player Adam Johnson

Adam Johnson was humble, kind and smart, and most of all an athlete.

Thousands gathered Monday to remember the 29-year-old American hockey player who died after his neck was cut by a skate blade.

The 29-year-old Johnson died late last month after being cut by a blade during a game in England. Johnson, who appeared in 13 NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019 and 2020, was playing for the Nottingham Panthers in a Challenge Cup game against the Sheffield Steelers when he suffered the skate cut during the Elite Ice Hockey League contest.

Family, friends and former teammates gathered to celebrate the life of the former Hibbing High School, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Penguins and Nottingham player.

"Adam was a joyful, kind human being. He had a quiet unselfishness about him, but he was a guy you wanted to be around all of the time," said James Perunovich, a spokesperson for the Johnson family. "He didn't have to say much. You were a better person as a result of meeting him.

"Everyone knew who Adam was. He wasn't just a tremendous hockey player. He was a tremendous athlete. Everything he did, he excelled at."

The memorial was held a day after Johnson's funeral. Scott Pionk, also a family spokesman, relayed how former Hibbing assistant coach Grant Clafton described Johnson.

"He said Adam was known as joyfully grumpy, but once he met Ryan [Johnson's fiancée Ryan Wolfe], he was just joyful," Pionk said. "That was the best thing I heard all day. That was awesome."

He spent 13 games over parts of the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons playing for Pittsburgh in the NHL before spending the 2020-21 season in Sweden with the Malmo Redhawks. He had a goal and three assists for the Penguins.

Johnson helped Minnesota-Duluth reach