Sharks color analyst leaves to join San Diego Gulls

SAN JOSE – Longtime NHL defenseman Bret Hedican, who worked as a color analyst on San Jose Sharks broadcasts for the last 10 years, has left the organization to become a player development analyst for the San Diego Gulls, the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks.

Hedican, who played 1,039 NHL games from 1992 to 2009 and won a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006, had worked full-time as an analyst for Sharks games, both on television and as part of the team’s audio network, since 2014.

Before joining the Sharks, Hedican, 53, worked for NBC Sports California as an in-studio analyst on pre-game and postgame shows during Sharks broadcasts.

A team spokesman said the Sharks are in the process of looking for Hedican’s replacement. The Sharks have Randy Hahn (television) and Dan Rusanowsky (audio) as their play-by-play voices, with Drew Remenda returning as a full-time color analyst.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Hedican, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, was a 10th-round draft choice by the St. Louis Blues in 1988. He played for the Blues, Canucks, and Panthers before he was traded to the Hurricanes in Jan. 2002. He played in Carolina for five-plus seasons before he finished his career with the Ducks, playing for one season in 2008-2009 before he retired.

Hedican also represented the United States in the 1992 and 2006 Olympic Games and the World Championships in 1997, 1999, and 2001. Hedican helped Team USA to a gold medal at the 2013 Women’s World Championship, serving as video coach.

Hedican is married to Kristi Yamaguchi, a Fremont native who won gold in figure skating at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville, France. The couple have two daughters.