Canadians, I’m sorry. I’m sorry Don Cherry sucks even though he’s completely entrenched in Canadian hockey culture. Old people, I also apologize to you, as he’s the only one supporting your outdated opinions. If you’re reading this to find out who Don Cherry is, we’ll cover that. We’ll cover what he did, what he does, and what he claims to provide to the hockey community. I’ll give him credit when it’s due though, he has a bunch of people talking, again.
Don Cherry Sucks on TV
If you’re wondering, failed broadcaster Don Cherry is a “Hockey Night in Canada” personality and star of Coach’s Corner. He’s the guy in the gaudy suit, complaining about hockey players who show emotion or any amount of personality. He isn’t wrong every time, and he does love hockey so I guess he has a couple redeeming qualities. I also don’t subscribe to the idea that he’s the reason we have the likes of Skip Bayless and Max Kellerman here in America, though some people blame him for their roles in sports media.
Basically, Don Cherry gets dressed in his heinous suit and yells on TV. Alas, he gifted us the Carolina Hurricanes “Bunch of Jerks” saga. After the Hurricanes decided to celebrate a few wins at home, someone reminded Cherry that there is a team in Carolina and he decided to throw a fit. Calling them jerks, unprofessional, and not at all understanding that it wasn’t a big deal. By the end of his nearly incoherent rant, he had basically put a hit out on Canes Captain Justin Williams, and anyone else he didn’t like on that team. A pretty average day for Cherry at this point in his career, but it sparked debates all across North America.
Coach’s Corner
So here’s what makes me laugh; Don Cherry is widely revered as a “brilliant hockey mind” and the lifeblood of Canadian hockey media and culture. The guy who never won a cup. The guy who played ONE game in the NHL. The best part is even though the league was half the size it is today, Cherry couldn’t coach his team to a Stanley Cup win. He was close, but a too many men on the ice penalty cost his Boston Bruins the chance to win. Of course, true to form, it wasn’t his fault. Just more refs favoring Montreal. His career coaching record in the NHL is 250-153-77 (W-L-T). Not bad, not amazing. But, one year with a team that didn’t have a handful of Hall of Famers on it (Colorado) proved he couldn’t coach a team that wasn’t playoff ready right away.
It’d be one thing if he won a bunch of cups and had an unreal coaching record, I’m not the type to rip on a guy because he was successful in a small league. In this case, though, I’m more than okay with bringing up his lack of championships in an 18 team league, especially when half of those teams were in their infancy. All of that together is what confuses me when so many hockey personalities and fans just bend over and accept his word as gospel, but everyone who thinks Don Cherry sucks get eviscerated on social media. Maybe someone can explain it to me, but why is this guy so widely loved and respected? Am I missing a part of his career that grants him immunity for being an asshole?
Canada’s Favorite Hypocrite
The same guy wearing a kimono-style suit went nutty over people expressing themselves. That’s the crux of issue for most people. Hockey is a tough sport, absolutely. But, it doesn’t have to be dangerous to be fun, as most of you have come to realize. A Russian player who delivers a high-hit is a dangerous player, bad for the game, and shouldn’t be allowed to play. At least in the eyes of Mr. Cherry. However, if Tom Wilson or Brad Marchand start taking a few cheap shots on whomever they please, Cherry refuses to see the issue and just goes on yelling about how they were taught to play the game the Canadian way. Ah yes, the Canadian way. That’s one of his favorites. It’s how he dilutes issues arising from Canadian born players and instead plays the “remember when” game with American and Russian players.
Nobodies perfect, I contradict myself from time to time as well. But the blatant disrespect towards everyone who wasn’t raised on maple syrup was unnecessary a decade ago. Now, it’s just embarrassing.
Getting our Hopes up
Recently it was reported that Don Cherry wouldn’t be back for HNIC or Coach’s Corner, which excited people all across the hockey world. Unfortunately, that rumor was laid to rest by Cherry and co. just the other day. Nonetheless, it got people talking. Why does this guy get a platform to spew nonsense, sometimes, even bigoted nonsense? He loves to talk about old-time hockey and how hitting isn’t what it used to be as if we need more concussions and less skill. He’s a polarizing figure, no doubt. That shouldn’t give him a free pass to be a perpetual disgrace in hockey culture.
The game has passed him, his mind is going, and not to get lost in the mix, his favoritism. He wasn’t even allowed to continue broadcasting back in the day because he couldn’t stop cheering for his favorite teams. Nothing about this guy, at least in my mind and many others, tells me he needs to be a voice for hockey. Especially in Canada, where they pride themselves on so many things involving hockey, and when inclusion is at the forefront. I mean, “Hockey is for everyone” doesn’t mean much when a guy stuck in 1978 has the means to be heard by millions.
I’m sure my hate mail will reach a new high this week so let’s have it! Let me know on twitter and make sure you’re following both halves of the Belly Up NHL Dream Team, myself and ZachMac. Also check out the best new hockey podcast around, Puck Puck Pass. Thanks for reading!
4 Comments
damn ass right don cherry sucks! and not just because he shares a first name with our president. the damn bastard is a complete badass fuck up! he gives hockey a damn helluva shit ass name. if CBC had any balls; they would’ve sacked him 30 years ago. unfortunately, they can’t. why? because cherry’s job is to boost ratings. and in the TV biz; if you want be a hit with the ratings people; then you must make a helluva ass of yourself. i miss dick irvin. he’s a complete opposite of cherry. mr. irvin just went to the rink and did his job. irvin was the vince scully of hockey. cherry is hockey’s jerry springer. fuck u donny! goddamn fuck u!
Could not agree more
Fortunately, even CBC understands now how much Cherry sucks, but DAYUM, it took a long long time for them to see it. And even then, they didn’t sack him until they recieved an avalanche of mail and calls telling them to sack him. And then came the insistence that his values aren’t CBC’s values, when they were quite happy with his values for so long. To be frank, CBC got off lightly for tolerating this man for so long, and for not sacking him until pressured to do so. Very lightly. As for the show’s sponsors, just as bad. The moment he’s fired, all of a sudden his values aren’t their values. They were quite happy to share his values for a long time up to that point. How quick capitalists are to cut the rope once they sniff a loss of profits, but how much it took for them to cut that rope at all. As far as I am concerned, no amount of “yhea we make beer for everyone, and don cherry doesn’t speak for us all of a sudden” statements aren’t going to cut it. If you associated yourself with him once, you’re stuck with him and his values.
P.S He should have got fired for all his anti-russian BS all those years ago. Looking back on that now, given how important Russian players have been in the NHL, his stance was pure embarassing and should have merited being fired back then. Nobody holds CBC responsible though. They should take some of the responsibility. Apologies, including the “his values aren’t our values” disclaimer is not going far enough. They enabled this guy to be a moron for too long and it’s ended up burning their fingers. They courted his ignorance for too long and benefitted from it and encouraged it for ratings. They played a dangerous game and in the end, they made him the fall guy. I think it’s cynical that they get off scot free.