Lafferty spoke, Soucy requested privacy after Monday practice
The tragedy that rocked the hockey world over the weekend hit hard in the Vancouver Canucks locker room.
Sam Lafferty and Carson Soucy were both past teammates of Adam Johnson who died Saturday at the age of 29 after suffering a skate cut to his throat during an Elite Hockey League game in England.
Through a Canucks media relations staffer, Soucy who played with Johnson for two seasons at the University of Minnesota-Duluth asked for privacy and respect following Monday's practice at Rogers Arena. Lafferty, who spent time with Johnson in Pittsburgh's system in both the National and American Hockey League, opted to pay tribute to his friend.
"Everyone's pretty devasted," Lafferty said. "It's shocking. It's sad. Johnny was a great guy, fun to be around. Unbelievable player and one of the best skaters I've ever played with. Very sad overall."
Lafferty assisted on Johnson's one and only NHL goal. It came in a 7-4 Penguins win over the Wild in Johnson's home state of Minnesota on October 12, 2019.
"I remember it clearly," Lafferty said. "Zach Aston-Reese passed it to me and the puck was just sitting there and he (Johnson) just ripped it top shelf. I can still see the look on his face. Pure elation, pure joy. In his home state on top of that, it felt like his whole town was there. It's something I'll never forget."
Like most, Lafferty said he first saw the terrible news on social media and soon after his phone lit up with messages from former teammates.
"Group texts with former teammates start relaying the news and it's just really shocking," he said. "It's really hard to believe. You don't want to believe it. It's just hard to comprehend."
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet expressed his grief and condolences for Johnson's family after practice and said the team will support Soucy and Lafferty in any way they can.
"We support people with numbers and people grieve in different ways," Tocchet said. "I know I don't like being alone. Souce is a big part of our team and hopefully he'll seek comfort from being around a lot of our guys."