Rick Westhead

Westhead previously worked in New Jersey and New Brunswick.

He began his sports reporting career as a freelancer for The New York Times.^[3] He reported on foreign affairs for the Toronto Star and moved overseas.^[4] He then accepted a role as a correspondent for TSN. He has criticised the NHL and its lack of care for players like Joe Murphy who suffered from concussions and mental illness and ended up homeless.^[5] In 2021, Westhead interviewed Kyle Beach in an exclusive interview for TSN; Beach was a victim of sexual assault when he played for the Chicago Blackhawks.^[6]

Westhead received an anonymous tip, which led to the exposure of the sexual assault lawsuit against the victim E.M. and the 2018 Canadian World Junior team.^[7] His reporting on the scandal in May 2022 led to the reveal of Hockey Canada's sexual assault settlement fund.^[8]

His first book, Finding Murph, explores and criticizes the NHL and its lack of care for players who experience concussions and CTE.^[9] In November 2025, his best-selling book We Breed Lions was published. Westhead's writing focuses on analyzing the toxic hockey culture in Canada and the sexual assault trial in 2025.^[10] He is donating all proceeds from this book to the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre and other charitable organizations focused on gender-based violence.^[11]

We Breed Lions was shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award for English Prose in 2026.^[12] In the same year, Westhead was featured in Code of Misconduct, Sébastien Trahan's documentary film about the Hockey Canada scandal.^[13]

Westhead currently works as a senior correspondent for TSN, as well as reporting for CTV.^[9]

Westhead was born in 1971 in Oakville, Ontario. His mother gave birth to him when she was 15 years old and put him up for adoption. He was adopted into a family with three other siblings; two biological children and another adopted daughter.^[14] He met his birth mother for the first time in 1997, and learned that he has three half-siblings.

He is an alumna of Toronto Metropolitan University, and graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.^[9][15] He currently resides in Ontario and regularly plays hockey recreationally in Toronto.^[8] Westhead has two sons. One of his sons was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2021.^[16]

• Finding Murph: How Joe Murphy Went From Winning a Championship to Living Homeless in the Bush (2020)
• We Breed Lions: Confronting Canada’s Troubled Hockey Culture (2025)