Chris Johnston is a TSN Hockey Insider and a senior NHL writer at The Athletic, holding both roles at the same time. Johnston appears on TSN’s Insider Trading, SportsCentre, That’s Hockey and TSN 1050 radio, and co-hosts The Chris Johnston Show. Johnston broke the NHL’s seven-year United States broadcast agreement with ESPN in 2021, and has been covering hockey since The Canadian Press hired him at 18.
| Full name | Chris Johnston |
| From | Cobourg, Ontario; based in Toronto |
| Born | Around 1981 — he was 38 in December 2019 |
| Role now | Hockey Insider, TSN; senior NHL writer, The Athletic |
| Podcast | The Chris Johnston Show, with Julian McKenzie, on SDPN |
| Previously | The Canadian Press, The Associated Press in London, Sportsnet |
| Best-known scoop | The NHL’s seven-year US rights deal with ESPN, 2021 |
| Education | Ryerson University, journalism |
Who is Chris Johnston?
Chris Johnston is a Canadian hockey reporter and one of the small group of insiders whose reporting sets the NHL news agenda in Canada. Johnston grew up in Cobourg, Ontario, played minor hockey from the age of three, and has said he wanted to be a hockey journalist from about the age of five. Johnston went to Ryerson University in Toronto at 18 to study journalism, and was working in a newsroom within weeks of arriving.
How did Chris Johnston start his career?
The Canadian Press hired Chris Johnston in 2000, roughly three weeks after he moved to Toronto, while he was in his first year at Ryerson. The job was Friday and Saturday nights updating junior hockey standings and writing game briefs. After university Johnston worked general news for The Associated Press in London, England, then returned to The Canadian Press as its number two hockey writer behind Pierre LeBrun. Johnston covered his first Olympics at Vancouver 2010, which he has named as the highlight of his CP years.
When did Chris Johnston join Sportsnet?
He joined Sportsnet in 2013, as the NHL lockout ended and shortly before Rogers won the national rights that reshaped Canadian hockey broadcasting. Johnston wrote for the site, appeared on Maple Leafs broadcasts, and spent four seasons on Hockey Night in Canada‘s second-intermission “Saturday Headlines” panel alongside Ron MacLean and Elliotte Friedman — more than 100 shows. Johnston left Sportsnet in September 2021.
Where does Chris Johnston work now?
He joined TSN as a Hockey Insider on 28 September 2021, announced by Darren Dreger: “Starting today you’ll see & hear him on Insider Trading, SportsCentre, That’s Hockey & TSN 1050 Radio.” At the same time Johnston took a senior insider role at NordStar’s betting venture, syndicated into the Toronto Star. In October 2023 Johnston moved the writing half of the job to The Athletic as a senior hockey writer. His line on joining: “Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the best place a sportswriter could hope to call home.”
Johnston has held both jobs since — a structure his old Canadian Press colleague Pierre LeBrun has used since 2017. Neither employer has ever publicly described how the arrangement works.
What is The Chris Johnston Show?
The Chris Johnston Show is a hockey podcast and YouTube show that Chris Johnston co-hosts with Julian McKenzie of The Athletic. It launched in 2021 around Johnston’s move to TSN and is produced by SDPN, the Steve Dangle Podcast Network — not, as is often assumed, by Daily Faceoff or the Nation Network. It runs roughly two to three episodes a week in season and was still publishing in July 2026.
How old is Chris Johnston?
Chris Johnston has never published a date of birth. A hometown newspaper profile gave his age as 38 in December 2019, which puts his birth year at around 1981 and makes him roughly 45. Any site giving an exact date is guessing.
Is Chris Johnston married? Does he have children?
Chris Johnston is married to Krista Coughlin, whom he has described as “very understanding” about the travel. Johnston has never publicly referenced children, so there is nothing to report either way. Johnston’s father Ian emigrated from Scotland to Cobourg; his mother Linda, who died around 2016, used to read the Toronto Star sports section with him over breakfast, which he has said started the whole thing.
