What impact might charges in the Adam Johnson death have on professional hockey?

As an athlete, one of the most devastating occurrences is not a loss at a game or even a championship, it is an injury. An injury can cut short a season, be a career ender, or in the most extreme situation, end a life. 

We know that sports always involve a physical risk because of contact, speed of play, environment or conditions, and infrequently — intentional malice. There are the light scratches and bumps and bruises but also concussions, fractured bones, torn ligaments and more.

When one joins sport of any kind, there is the understanding that they accept the risk of injury. I have four children who are athletes and there isn't a week where someone doesn't need Voltaren, some KT tape or the packet of frozen peas we keep in the freezer as a de facto ice bag. 

When they were little, I would get out the tube of Polysporin I kept in my bag with bandages and kiss the boo boo better. As they got older and more competitive, it elevated to X-rays, physiotherapy appointments and knee braces. In the case of my daughter, surgeries for broken fingers because she's a soccer goalkeeper. But never did I anticipate or expect death. 

When I first heard the news of Adam Johnson's tragic death on the ice, I was horrified and heartbroken. Johnson, a former NHL player, was playing with the Nottingham Panthers in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) in England. The EIHL was founded in 2003 and currently has 10 teams from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern England. 

Johnson previously played with the Pittsburgh Penguins for a brief time before moving to Europe. His family back home in Minnesota always supported him. During a game on Oct. 28, Johnson fell and the blade of another player sliced his neck. He was rushed to hospital but later