Baker stepping away from broadcast team
Jamie Baker announced Wednesday that he is stepping away from the San Jose Sharks broadcast team after 15 seasons.
“2020, the year of uncertainty, seemed like the right time for me to move on from the Sharks broadcast team,” Baker said in a statement released on the
Sharks’ Twitter account. “It’s been a privilege working with some of the broadcasters and TV crew in the business, they made my job a lot easier because they are so talented.”
Baker in recent years had been splitting time between doing the radio broadcasts with Dan Rusanowsky and the NBC Sports California television broadcasts with play- by-play man Randy Hahn and occasionally fellow analyst Bret Hedican.
“It’s been a privilege watching the best players in the world battle at a ferocious pace with skillsets that are hard to fathom at times,” Baker’s statement continued. “It’s been a privilege to work in the best hockey league in the world, with the most parity of any professional sports league.
“But most of all, it’s been a privilege connecting with you, the fans, for all these years. We bled teal together, riding the rollercoaster of pro sports. I hope our paths cross again, sometime, somehow, someway, somewhere.”
Baker’s statement did not say what he is planning to do next. Contacted Wednesday, Baker, back in his hometown of Ottawa, said he did not wish to comment further right now.
Baker, 54, played 186 games for the Sharks, mostly from 1992-1996. In nine-plus seasons as a blue- collar depth forward in the NHL, Baker had 150 points and 271 penalty minutes in 404 career games. He played one last NHL game for San Jose on Oct. 10, 1999, before he finished his professional career with HIFK Helsinki in Finland.
Baker scored one of the biggest goals in Sharks franchise history, netting the game-winner in Game 7 of San Jose’s upset of the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the 1994 playoffs.
Baker worked primarily on the Sharks’ radio broadcasts as a color analyst for nearly a decade before he replaced Drew Remenda in
the television booth alongside Hahn in 2014. Hedican then replaced Baker on the radio side.
Baker has been open about his battle with mental health issues in recent years. Twice during the 2017-2018 season, Baker
stepped away from Sharks’ broadcasts to focus on his personal well-being. He returned to the Sharks for the start of the 2018-19 season and in January 2019, he opened up about his struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts, as he encouraged others who have had similar feelings to ask for help.
“Jamie Baker has been a beloved member of the San Jose Sharks family for more than 25 years,” the Sharks said in a statement. “As a player he personified determination and a teamfirst mentality, authorizing one of the more memorable moments in franchise history during the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs.
“As a television and radio analyst for the past 15 seasons, he brought those same characteristics to his role off the ice, entertaining and informing millions of Sharks fans in the process. His passion for the game of hockey came through in his broadcasting, in his interactions with our fans and in his service to our Bay Area communities. While he will be missed, we respect his decision and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”