Former Canadiens star Backstrom had CTE, researcher says

TSN Senior Correspondent

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Ralph Backstrom, who won six Stanley Cup championships with the Montreal Canadiens during a 17-year NHL career, had a severe form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease that has been discovered in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of repeated hits to the head.

Backstrom’s wife, Janet, confirmed his posthumous diagnosis. Backstrom died Feb. 7, 2021, at the age of 83 in his home in Windsor, Colo.

After donating his brain to researchers at Boston University, Backstrom’s family was contacted in October with exam results showing he had stage 3 CTE. (There are four stages.)

“Ralph would have been proud of this research to know that even after he died, he could be helping others by increasing our knowledge about CTE," Janet Backstrom said in an interview with TSN. "This is now part of Ralph's legacy."

A copy of Backstrom’s two-page neuropathology report documents that he also suffered from Lewy body disease. People with Lewy body often suffer from short-term memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s and can struggle to navigate complex tasks like grocery shopping.

Backstrom’s posthumous diagnosis of CTE is noteworthy because he was known as a scorer and playmaker, not as a particularly belligerent player. His career high for penalty minutes in a season was 51.

Researchers believe CTE not only comes from concussions that might be suffered during a fight on the ice, but also from the repeated blows to the head and jarring body checks that occur routinely during a game.

“This is significant because it draws attention to the fact that former players who were known as skill players are being diagnosed with CTE,” said Chris Nowinski, the