Hockey Night in Canada will look a bit different going forward.
Longtime Sportsnet personality Scott Oake announced on Saturday’s After Hours that this will be his final season broadcasting and he will step away following the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Oake has enjoyed a long and storied career in broadcasting, getting his start by volunteering at his campus radio station at the Memorial University of Newfoundland before parlaying that into a job with CBC St. Johns.
Oake relocated to Winnipeg in 1979 to pursue sports broadcasting, and was then tapped by CBC to join Hockey Night in Canada in 1989 — a position he has held since.
A mainstay on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts, Oake began hosting the second game in the 2003-04 season alongside notable co-hosts such as Louie DeBrusk, Kelly Hrudey and Kevin Weekes.
Throughout his career, Oake has been honoured for his exceptional work in the industry, including capturing an Order of Manitoba, Order of Canada, and in 2003 won a Gemini Award for his interview with Brett Hull.
As much as his interviewing prowess, Oake is also well known for his sense of humour. His post-game interviews on Hockey Night in Canada have produced plenty of viral moments — including cheeky exchanges with veteran NHLer Ryan Reaves, whose friendship with the Oake family long predates his NHL career, having grown up with Scott’s sons, Bruce and Darcy.
Oake was foundational in building After Hours — the nightcap wherein Oake and his co-host conduct a lengthy interview, including viewer questions, with a player, coach or team executive — which ran initially from the 2000-01 season until 2013-14. It was revived ahead of the 2016-17 season, airing on Sportsnet and CBC.
Oake also founded the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre in Winnipeg following his son’s overdose death in 2011.
April 11 will mark his final Hockey Night in Canada and After Hours appearance.
