Former NHL Player Greg Johnson Diagnosed with CTE After Death

Former National Hockey League player Greg Johnson, who enjoyed a 14-season career in the league, has been posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain condition linked to repeated head injuries in contact sports.

The announcement was made jointly by Johnson’s family and the Concussion Legacy Foundation on Wednesday,  July 10 2024, five years after his death by suicide.

Johnson’s daughter, Carson, used the occasion to address the NHL’s stance on CTE, urging the league to acknowledge the risks associated with repeated brain trauma.

“I didn’t even know what CTE meant when my dad took his life,” Carson stated in a release from the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

“Now that I understand the toll his hockey career took on his brain, I want all athletes to be aware of the risks. I want the NHL to recognize CTE and take stronger measures to protect its players, so other daughters don’t have to lose their fathers.”

Greg Johnson, born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, passed away at the age of 48 on July 7, 2019, in Rochester, Michigan, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Dr. Ann McKee, from the Boston University CTE Center, diagnosed Johnson with CTE, although definitive staging was challenging due to the circumstances of his death.

“This diagnosis was devastating,” remarked Kristin, Johnson’s wife of 22 years. “Greg’s death shattered our world, and we never imagined he was battling this disease. While he showed few symptoms we recognized, he often talked about his concussions.”

Johnson was known as a dependable forward and served as the second team captain for the Nashville Predators from 1998 to 2006.

He played a total of 785 NHL games with the Predators, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings. He also won a silver medal with Team Canada at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer.

CTE has been confirmed in the brains of 17 out of 18 NHL players studied in the U.S. and Canada, including notable names like Ralph Backstrom, Henri Richard, and Stan Mikita, among others.

The NHL has been criticized for not acknowledging a direct link between hockey-related head trauma and CTE, unlike the NFL, which recognized the association in 2016.