San Jose Sharks opt not to renew Drew Remenda’s contract

There’s been a lot of talk about the San Jose Sharks’ rebuilding this summer, and apparently that’s going to begin in the broadcast booth.

The Sharks will not renew the contract of television analyst Drew Remenda. The popular analyst’s contract was up at the end of the season, and apparently, the team was looking to go in a different direction. Remenda told the San Jose Mercury News he had “kind of an inkling” that COO John Tortora would tell him they weren’t asking the analyst back.

After serving as an assistant coach with the team from 1991-1995, Remenda began working as a broadcaster for the club. He started in radio, but would gain most fame in the Bay Area working with play-by-play man Randy Hahn to form the Sharks TV broadcast team. Aside from a year-long hiatus to work with Hockey Night in Canada in 2007-08, he’s been in San Jose ever since. Remenda has also called some west coast games with Hahn and a couple of other play-by-play men for NBC Sports Network the past two seasons.

Remenda has mentioned that he’d like to get back into coaching, and I wish him well in that, but I feel the disappointment on behalf of the Sharks fan base. While it was never not apparent that the two were wearing teal-colored glasses, Hahn and Remenda made for a dynamite broadcast. Both are passionate and knowledgeable and they had good chemistry, so while hopefully the Sharks will find an equally qualified replacement, thing won’t seem quite the same in the Bay Area for a little while.