Color of Hockey: Hoshida gaining confidence along with rest of Sharks 

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles Alan Hoshida, host of the San Jose Sharks’ “Sharks Pregame Live” and “Sharks Post Game Live” on NBC Sports California.

Alan Hoshida feels like he’s growing with the Sharks.

Hoshida is in his second season as host of the San Jose Sharks “Sharks Pregame Live” and “Sharks Postgame Live” shows on NBC Sports California. The 37-year-old Gilroy, California, native said he’s become more comfortable and confident in the job with a season under his belt, much like Macklin Celebrini, the No.1 pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, and the rest of the Sharks’ young core.

“This year I kind of know what to expect,” he said. “And when you’re talking to Macklin and the young guys on the Sharks, it’s kind of the same way; They’ve been through this after 82 games, they kind of know what to expect, where to go, what to do. I kind of feel the same way, too, in the second year.”

Hoshida said he’s excited to be in his dream job covering the hometown team that sparked his passion for hockey. He’s also proud to be one of the few Asian heritage broadcasters covering the NHL.

“There hasn’t been a time where I ever thought of myself not a Sharks fan,” said Hoshida, who is Japanese American. “We were watching games anytime we could, going to friends’ houses to watch games, going to the Shark Tank here and there, going to playoff games, going to practices. I would open up Christmas boxes and I had San Jose Sharks (stuff) there.”

Hoshida, who succeeded longtime Sharks pregame and postgame host Brodie Brazil, said he’s thrilled to have a front-row seat to the development and progress of a team that’s rebuilding on talent led by forwards Celebrini, 19, William Eklund, 23, and Will Smith, 20, and goalie Yaroslav Askarov, 23.

“I want to be here when the Sharks return to the playoffs and when these kids, these kids become young men, and push this franchise into a new place,” he said. “This is where I want to be.”

Hoshida has been a broadcaster for more than 14 years after graduating from San Francisco State University in 2011. He’s held sports anchor, director and reporter positions in markets from Eureka, California, to Richland, Washington, to Honolulu, Hawaii.

“I learned a whole lot about myself, about culture, about people, about food there,” he said. “There’s a big Japanese culture over there and more Asians in general, so that was a really cool experience.”

Hawaii was hard to leave, Hoshida said, but the opportunity to come home and cover the Sharks in September 2024 was irresistible.

“I've just always been around the Sharks, worked with my favorite team when I was in California,” he said. “I broke (into broadcasting) as an intern, and Comcast sports event back then, and then ABC 7 (KGO-TV in San Francisco), I got to do things with the Sharks; going to practice, and it's just something that I really fell in love with. I love hockey. I love the pace. I just I love that there were some really good personalities and, at the time and the Sharks were really good.”

Hoshida returned to a city where 38 percent of the population is Asian. He said he hopes that his on-air presence inspires young people to succeed in whatever interests them.

“To be perfectly honest, I never thought of it as breaking any doors down or breaking any barriers,” said Hoshida, whose paternal grandparents were among the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were sent to United States internment camps during World War II. “I just wanted to do the best that I could do, and I wanted to make my family proud. And if I inspire the next generation to do that as well coming from whatever background they come from, the adversity their family has had to endure, then that speaks volumes.”

Tim Grewal, who helps coach the San Jose Jr. Sharks 19U AAA Girls team, said Hoshida’s presence is connecting with a diverse viewing audience.

“There's that definite appeal to minorities to be able to see somebody that's visibly like them,” Grewal said. “Kids, Jr. Sharks kids and others in the Bay Area who tune into Sharks games and become fans, especially now with Macklin Celebrini and others coming in and becoming a contender in years to come, I think it’s exciting for them to be able to see a minority as host of the Sharks pre and postgame.”