Hall of Famer Mikita suffered from CTE

Hockey legend Stan Mikita was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, researchers and his family announced, according to TSN's Rick Westhead.

Boston University CTE Center director Dr. Ann McKee revealed the findings for the first time Friday night at the Concussion Legacy Foundation's Chicago Honors dinner.

"Stan Mikita was diagnosed with (two) neurodegenerative diseases that our research has shown are associated with a long career in contact sports such as ice hockey: CTE and Lewy Body Disease," Dr. McKee said, according to Westhead.

Mikita pledged his brain to the research team in Boston before his death in 2018.

The late NHL star is now the 11th known former player and the first member of the Hall of Fame to have tested positive for CTE, the disease linked to repetitive brain trauma caused by contact sports.

Mikita, who was inducted into the Hall in 1983, died in August 2018 at the age of 78.