Ryan Johnston gets his ‘dream job’ as radio voice of the Bruins

One of the most satisfying aspects of covering sports — and sports media, too — is witnessing those moments when perseverance is rewarded, when someone whose dues were paid in full a long time ago sees their dream fulfilled.

We got the sports version as recently as June, when the Celtics’ Al Horford became an NBA champion for the first time in his 17 seasons.

And we got the sports media version of someone getting what they deserve in all the right ways when Ryan Johnston was named the play-by-play voice on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Bruins broadcasts on Thursday morning.

“It’s gratifying for a lot of reasons,” Johnston told me later that day. “One being that it took a really long time to get here.”

Johnston, a weekend and fill-in host at the station since its launch in August 2009, has a lengthy résumé as a hockey play-by-play voice. That includes nine seasons as the voice of the AHL’s Lowell Lock Monsters (and later, Devils). He’s called the Beanpot, the Hockey East tournament, and Boston College games for The Sports Hub, along with an array of other television and radio assignments.

The Syracuse graduate has been well respected in hockey circles long enough that he was a finalist for the Bruins radio job the last time it opened up, back in 2017, when Dave Goucher left to become the television voice of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.

He even called some preseason games alongside analyst Bob Beers as part of that audition process. But the job went to Judd Sirott, who proved to be a fine choice himself.

When Sirott was hired by NESN as the successor to the legendary Jack Edwards in August, Johnston’s name was the first that came to mind for many Bruins fans as the logical fit on the radio broadcasts.

That made sense; Johnston had even filled in for Sirott on occasion. But he was no shoo-in. It’s a coveted position, one with remarkable tradition and a legendary lineup of voices, among them Bob Wilson, Fred Cusick, Frank Ryan, Bob Neumeier, Bill Harrington, and contemporary stalwart Goucher. The Sports Hub followed standard protocol and opened up the job to outside candidates.

“There was hope all along, but until the last few days we weren’t 100 percent sure on any of it,” said Johnston. “I think a lot of people will kind of assume that this just was my job from the beginning, and I don’t know that that was ever the case.

“To join a list like that is something special and it’s something that I am definitely going take to heart. This team has had some amazing broadcasters throughout its history and I want to carry on that tradition. This has been my dream job.”

Johnston said the process was similar to 2017 “with the exception of calling preseason games.” He had a formal interview with station management, including program director Rick Radzik, who has hired a number of Bruins broadcasters through the years, including Goucher, Sirott, and Beers. Johnston also interviewed with Bruins management, who signed off on the choice.

Johnston, who has been the main host of The Sports Hub’s “The Hockey Show” since 2012, said he thought he might have benefitted this time around from having been able to show more of his personality on the air in recent years.

He has been a regular fill-in on the station’s “Toucher and Hardy” (previously “Toucher and Rich”) morning-drive program for three years.

“Getting the chances that I’ve had to work with the morning show I think opened some people’s eyes that there was more that I could do,” Johnston said. “It’s not play-by-play, obviously, but I think it showed that I can be versatile and have a sense of humor, things like that.”

Johnston’s Bruins bona fides are clear to anyone who has listened to “The Hockey Show” or heard him discuss the team over the years.

So it might be surprising that he’s not a native New Englander, having spent his childhood in southern New Jersey with parents who owned Flyers season tickets even before he was born.

“They started taking me to games while I was still in diapers, and that was kind of the start of this,” he said.

When he was in middle school, Johnston’s family moved to Chicago. He matriculated to Massachusetts in 2000, and his passion for the Bruins amplified when he started working for The Sports Hub 15 years ago.

“That’s when I began watching every game and really fell in love with the team,” he said.

Johnston said his approach is to bring “enthusiasm, excitement, and credibility” to the broadcast, which debuts with the Bruins’ preseason opener Sept. 22 against the Rangers. The on-air connection with Beers should develop quickly since they’ve worked together on “The Hockey Show” for years.

“We already basically spend every Saturday morning together over the course of the season,” said Johnston.

When Johnston steps into the Bruins broadcast booth on the ninth floor of TD Garden and teams up with Beers on the call, it will be the official realization of a dream that at times seemed like it might never come true.

“This was always the ultimate goal,” Johnston said. “After 2017, I didn’t know if I’d ever get that close again. That was a huge disappointment, but I just put it in my head to just keep working at it and see what happens. And here we are.”