He’s been on air at Hockey Night in Canada since the late 1980s and working in broadcasting since the 1970s.<\/p>\n
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Published Apr 11, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n If it were up to Scott Oake, the end of his time on air would have been an Irish goodbye: he\u2019d have signed off at the end of this season as he always did and then sometime this summer put in a call to the powers that be at Sportsnet and told them he was done.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. 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And so Oake did his duty and let everyone know that this season is his last, that he\u2019ll be packing away his mic and his notebooks and shifting into a life helping run his family\u2019s passion project: the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre, named in memory of his son who died in 2011 after struggling with addiction, and the Anne Oake Recovery Centre, which is about to start construction and when completed will offer 75 beds for women who are in recovery.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n When you retire it\u2019s good to have something to do and there\u2019s little doubt that Oake will stay busy.<\/p>\n He\u2019s been on air at Hockey Night in Canada since the late 1980s and working in broadcasting since the 1970s.<\/p>\n For Vancouver sports fans, he\u2019s been a Saturday night fixture, no matter the era. If you\u2019ve watched hockey in the last four decades, you\u2019ve seen him most weekends.<\/p>\n Saturday he\u2019ll work his last Canucks game, with Vancouver in San Jose to face the Sharks. Post-game he\u2019ll once again host After Hours, the interview show that\u2019s been running for at least 20 years to great acclaim. The Sharks\u2019 Ryan Reaves, one of the biggest personalities in the game, will be the final guest.<\/p>\n Canucks Report<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Vancouver has a special place in his heart. He grew up in Cape Breton, went to university for a time in Newfoundland and eventually settled in Winnipeg. But for more than 30 years he was the host of the late Hockey Night in Canada game that\u2019s often brought him to the West Coast<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always loved coming to Vancouver because when you live in Winnipeg, coming to the West Coast in the middle of the winter felt like visiting the beach,\u201d he said. Of course, there was also the hockey. His time hosting the late game meant he spent a lot of time covering heady times for the Canucks, the likes of Todd Bertuzzi and Marcus Naslund, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Roberto Luongo and Kevin Bieksa.<\/p>\n There were always characters to be found, especially once After Hours locked in as a regular Saturday fixture about 20 years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cKevin Bieksa, he was perfect for that show with his sense of humour and how he never worried at all about abusing me,\u201d he said, grinning at the thought of Bieksa, who has grown into a broadcast colleague and true star of the program.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Roberto Luongo, the perception of him in that market when he first got there, I think was he was a bit aloof,\u201d he added. And he\u2019s right, certainly in the early years, Luongo came across as guarded. He\u2019s so well known now for being whip-smart, it\u2019s funny to think he wasn\u2019t always so.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cWe had him on After Hours I think four times. And I dare say we helped change the perception of him. Plus his participation on social media as \u2018strombone.’\u201d<\/p>\n Even as the media environment shifted, as viewership splintered and the idea of must-watch shows withered, After Hours managed to bridge the gap. It remained relevant, a program that players who were more and more raised in a world dominated by phones still understood, still recognized as a good thing to do.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a show that was all about learning something about the player as a person, and I think the show generally succeeded on that level more often than not,\u201d Oake said.<\/p>\n He won\u2019t be working with hockey players to help them open up, but he\u2019ll be supporting people looking to find themselves, to open up about their struggles. The Bruce Oake centre has been a big success. In the gymnasium they have a tradition of hanging up Winnipeg Jets sweaters in the rafters to recognize graduates after a year of sobriety, then updating those after each year their graduates add on.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are now more than 180 of those,\u201d Oake said. And now they\u2019re starting work to build a centre for women, who will be able to bring their children along. Men\u2019s centre has space for 50; as noted, the women\u2019s centre will have space for 75 people, between clients and their kids.<\/p>\n \u201cWe always wanted to add that. And once we got funding for the Bruce Oake centre stabilized, we wanted to add a program for women.\u201d<\/p>\n pjohnston@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n A good news story for the Canucks: Brock Boeser is the King Clancy nominee<\/p>\n![\"scott](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0407-scott-oake-hockey-night_302447090.jpg\")
Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster Scott Oake’s memoir is retiring. Photo by Jeff McIntosh \/The Canadian PressArticle content<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.9.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-vp.svg\"){kind=logo}
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Scott Oake and Kelly Hrudey of CBC\u2019s Hockey Night in Canada in earlier days. SunMedia<\/p>\n![\"Friday](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hkn-blue-jackets-canucks-20251108_299772414.jpg\")
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