Drew Remenda took the high road in his reaction to the news on Tuesday that the Sharks fired him."They decided not to renew my contract," Remenda told the San Jose Mercury News. "It wasn't because of anything I did or anything wrong. It was explained to me they wanted to take the broadcast in a different direction. Honestly, we parted amicably."
I would beg to differ.
Because I'm not a hockey guy and because this is a mostly media blog I'm going to offer you an opinion as to why the mucho-popular Sharks TV color analyst was shown the door. This comes from someone close to the subject in question and who knows the franchise inside and out.
Too honest. Maybe too expensive too. But more of the former than the latter. Nevertheless, a "shocking development" said the individual who also indicated they were as surprised as anyone else.
Moreover, the person told me, the Remenda ouster might be something of an ominous sea change for the entire Sharks organization.
Which, in the big picture, might explain this matter.
Remenda had a sort of take-no-prisoners attitude when it came to his broadcasting style; he pulled no punches and told it like it is; good, bad or indifferent. He was fiercely loyal to the team and didn't mind showing his disgust at critics, like this volatile encounter.
Apparently the Sharks have cherry-picked an unlikely scapegoat for their latest playoff meltdown and that involves, curiously, Remenda. Not a face of the franchise, but a huge fan favorite off the ice who, ironically enough, after leaving the organization in 2006 to go back to his native Canada, was lured back a year later.
My gut says the Sharks weren't happy with Remenda's critical assessment after the LA Kings disaster. I also believe, and this is just a guess, they weren't entirely thrilled with his non-Sharks work with the NBC Sports cable network. Again, just a guess.
Even so, by showing him the door in a rather out-of-the-blue moment, the organization has enraged its passionate fan base. It's also very clearly taken a gigantic risk that the outrage will, with time, pass.
I don't think so.
Which only further reinforces the notion that as a TV analyst, Remenda was too honest. When the team played well, he was the first to offer a huzzah. And then some.
But when they went south, he was also not afraid to speak his mind. Not the Remenda way to sugarcoat. That, and his paycheck to a lesser extent, may have led to his firing.
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