Scott Oake (born 1952 or 1953) is a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

-winning Canadian sportscaster for

CBC Sports CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-languag ...

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...

, and

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

Biography

Early life

Oake was born in 1952 or 1953 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, and raised in Sydney's "Shipyards" neighbourhood until the age of 14, when his family relocated to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. Oake's father was employed as a steelworker at

Sydney Steel Corporation Sydney Steel Corporation (SYSCO) was a Crown corporation in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It owned and operated a steel mill in Sydney. Early history of steelmaking in Sydney An integrated steel mill was established on the southeast side ...

. As a

pre-medical Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med course ...

student at

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...

, Oake volunteered at the

campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produce ...

station, which was his introduction to broadcasting. This quickly became his passion, and he decided to pursue a career in the radio and television field.

Broadcasting career

After

part-time Part-time can refer to: * Part-time job, a job that has fewer hours a week than a full-time job * Part-time student, a student, usually in higher education, who takes fewer course credits than a full-time student * Part Time Part Time (styliz ...

work at CBC St. John's, he was hired

full-time Full-time or Full Time may refer to: * Full-time job, employment in which a person works a minimum number of hours defined as such by their employer * Full-time mother, a woman whose work is running or managing her family's home * Full-time fat ...

by the network in 1974, and has been employed by CBC to this day. Upon being hired full-time by the CBC, Oake proceeded to drop out of Memorial University in St. John's, a decision his father did not support. Oake relocated to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, and became the sports anchor on

CBWT CBWT-DT (channel 6) is a CBC Television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It has common ownership with Ici Radio-Canada Télé station CBWFT-DT (channel 3). Both stations share studios on Portage Avenue and Young Street in Downtown Winnipeg, ...

's ''24Hours'' from 1979 until about 1989. From there, Oake was hired by ''

'', the CBC's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

television program broadcasting

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) games to a national audience. In 1996, he was named to the roll of honour of the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Oake is probably best known as a regular contributor to ''Hockey Night in Canada''. Since the 2003–04 season, he has hosted the second game of ''HNICs Saturday night double-headers, first alongside

Kelly Hrudey Kelly Hrudey (; born January 13, 1961) is a Canadian former National Hockey League ice hockey goaltender. He is a current hockey broadcaster with Sportsnet as an analyst for ''Hockey Night in Canada'' and the Calgary Flames as a commentator. Durin ...

, then with

Marc Crawford Marc Joseph John Crawford (born February 13, 1961) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He most recently was the assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Crawford won the Stanley Cu ...

, then with

Kevin Weekes Kevin Weekes (born April 4, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 348 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is now a studio analyst for NHL Networks' ''On the Fly'', ''NHL Tonight'', and ESPN's The Poi ...

, then Hrudey again, and now with

Louie DeBrusk Louis Dennis DeBrusk (born March 19, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is currently a colour analyst for Edmonton Oilers broadcasts on Sportsnet and the late game of ''Hockey Night in Canada''. Playing career DeBrusk ...

. Even though Oake remains with the CBC after

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of mobile phone operator, wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet access, Intern ...

, the owners of

networks bought the sole national rights for the 2014–15 season, Oake joined the Sportsnet's national NHL coverage in June 2014. In addition to his ''Hockey Night'' role, he gains new role as ice level reporter for Sportsnet's Wednesday night games. Along with hockey, he has covered many important sporting events including the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

football, and many other sports. He won the 2003 "Best Host or Interviewer in a Sports Program or Sportscast" Gemini Award. In 2004, he hosted the hockey docudrama '' Making the Cut''.

Olympic coverage

During his career, Oake has covered a total of 12 Olympic games for the CBC, including the 2008 Beijing Games where he did play-by-play for flatwater canoeing and rowing events. Oake has covered

downhill skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping), w ...

at every Winter Olympics from Calgary in 1988 to Sochi in 2014.

Personal life

Oake currently lives in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. He was married to Anne on May 31, 1980 and has a son, Darcy, who is a magician. Darcy appeared in the 2014 edition of ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

'', advancing to the semi-finals and final, but he lost the competition to the singing group

Collabro Collabro were a UK-based musical theatre group and winners of the eighth series of ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2014. The group consisted of Michael Auger, Jamie Lambert, Matthew Pagan and Thomas J. Redgrave. Richard Hadfield left the band in J ...

. Their first son Bruce died on March 29, 2011 at the age of 25 of a

drug overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

, and they later named a recovery centre after him in Winnipeg called the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre. His wife, Anne, died on September 6, 2021 from an autoimmune liver condition. Oake was appointed a Member of the

Order of Manitoba The Order of Manitoba (french: Ordre du Manitoba) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Instituted in 1999 when Lieutenant Governor Peter Liba granted Royal Assent to The Order of Manitoba Act, the order is administe ...

in September 2020.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oake, Scott Canadian Football League announcers Canadian people of English descent Canadian television sportscasters Living people People from Sydney, Nova Scotia People from Winnipeg Olympic Games broadcasters National Hockey League broadcasters Members of the Order of Manitoba 1950s births