Former NHL player Greg Johnson has been posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).<\/p>\n
\nFormer NHL player Greg Johnson, who played 14 seasons in the league, has been posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the brain-withering disease linked to repetitive brain trauma in contact sports.<\/p>\n
Story from @rwesthead<\/a>: https:\/\/t.co\/TqdQVJlNMX<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) July 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
CTE is a brain-withering disease linked to repetitive brain trauma in contact sports. The disease cannot be diagnosed until an individual has already died. Johnson committed suicide by gunshot in July 2019.<\/p>\n
Johnson’s family and the Concussion Legacy Foundation announced the diagnosis on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The NHL Has Yet To Acknowledge A Connection Between the Disease And Brain Trauma<\/h3>\n
The family and the foundation used the announcement as an opportunity to encourage the NHL to acknowledge the risk and do more to protect the players.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea what CTE even stood for when my dad took his life,\u201d Carson, Johnson’s daughter, said in a statement released by the Concussion Legacy Foundation<\/a>. \u201cNow understanding that the hits he endured throughout his hockey career damaged his brain, I want all athletes to understand the risks and I want the NHL to start acknowledging it exists and do more to protect its players so other daughters don\u2019t have to lose their fathers.\u201d<\/p>\n
CTE has been a big topic for the NHL and the NFL due to consistent contact. Concussions are common in both leagues. Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa experienced multiple concussions<\/a> a few seasons ago. Former Stanley Cup Champion Andrew Shaw retired in 2021 from concussion problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n
While the NFL acknowledged a connection a few seasons ago, the NHL has not yet.<\/p>\n
Johnson’s NHL Career<\/h3>\n
Johnson played a total of 785 games in the NHL with the Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks,\u00a0Pittsburgh Penguins, and\u00a0Detroit Red Wings. Furthermore, he won a silver medal with Team Canada at the 1994 Olympics.<\/p>\n
Johnson was the second team captain in Predators history. Johnson played for the Predators from 1998-2006. The forward retired from concussions after the 2005-06 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis diagnosis took my breath away,\u201d said Kristin, Johnson’s wife. \u201cGreg\u2019s death shattered our world, and we never once thought this disease was something he struggled with. He experienced very few symptoms that we knew of, but he spoke of his concussions often. I remember the exact moment he told me his heart condition forcing him to retire was a blessing because he couldn\u2019t take another hit. He knew his hockey career had a profound impact on his brain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Main Photo: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former NHL player Greg Johnson has been posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Johnson Diagnosed With CTE Former NHL player Greg Johnson, who played 14 seasons in the league, has been posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the brain-withering disease linked to repetitive brain trauma in contact sports. Story from @rwesthead: https:\/\/t.co\/TqdQVJlNMX […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3464,"featured_media":445236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,4547,4548],"tags":[2547,955],"class_list":["post-445219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-cte","tag-nhl-news"],"modified_by":"Tommy Bennett","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3464"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}