Say.... is Don Cherry in the HOF?

  • Thread starter James Ownz Harper*
  • Start date

Hasbro

Family Friend
Sponsor
Apr 1, 2004
52,415
16,383
South Rectangle
Not as a player and not as a coach i can tell you that much!

Might go in as a builder, but then again I think the HHOF should induct the Hanson Brothers in that category too. :propeller
 

BM67

Registered User
Mar 5, 2002
4,775
279
In "The System"
Visit site
He only played 1 game in the NHL, and only coached in the NHL for 6 years, so he doesn't have an NHL background to get in, but they do put broadcasters in as builders, so he might make it.
 

VanIslander

A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Sep 4, 2004
35,134
6,428
Hasbro said:
Not as a player and not as a coach i can tell you that much!
That's for sure. I remember him as a coach: lousy !

He WILL get in as a BROADCASTER, probably at the same time as Ron Maclean.
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
53,367
83,458
Vancouver, BC
He will get in eventually, probably as a broadcaster. Maybe as a builder.

Whether you like him or not, he's been a very influential voice in the sport for a very long time, and his viewpoints have had a *huge* influence on Canadian hockey culture. He does belong in the HHOF in some fashion.
 

ClassicHockey

Registered User
May 22, 2005
595
6
Outside of a few things like 'no touch icing', his ideas and 'influence' have been mostly negative to the Canadian hockey culture. He has been preaching violence to viewers for over 20 years. Most hockey people watch him for 'entertainment' but know that his 'views' are for the most part not credible and do not take him seriously.

Also, he may be inducted into the HHOF as a broadcaster but they are currently not honoured members of the Hall.

If he is elected as a 'Builder' then he would be an honoured member. I don't know how he qualifies for that designation though.

MS said:
He will get in eventually, probably as a broadcaster. Maybe as a builder.

Whether you like him or not, he's been a very influential voice in the sport for a very long time, and his viewpoints have had a *huge* influence on Canadian hockey culture. He does belong in the HHOF in some fashion.
 

Snap Wilson

Registered User
Sep 14, 2003
5,838
0
Irrespective of how one feels about Don Cherry, I get the impression that the powers that be don't really care for him that much.

Ron MacLean would fit right in a hypothetical broadcaster's wing.
 

God Bless Canada

Registered User
Jul 11, 2004
11,793
17
Bentley reunion
I am a very big Don Cherry fan. I don't agree with everything he says, but I respect him for his passion for the game, his efforts to promote Canadian hockey and his advice for young hockey players. I also respect his unwavering support for the Canadian military and the RCMP.

But there isn't a category for him in the HHOF. One game as a player. Six years as a coach won't get it done. The broadcasters wing is reserved for play-by-play announcers, colour commentators and the occasional interviewer. Having a seven-minute weekly segment on the CBC, a 30-minute show for a few years on TSN and the Grapeline radio show won't get the job done. I could definitely see Ron MacLean getting in, he of the Gemini Awards, as MacLean is generally heralded as one of the best sports broadcasters in the business. But with the way the HHOF has done its inductions, Cherry does not fit in.

Most of the people in the builders category are GMs or owners, and I don't think his loss-riddled tenure as Mississauga owner will get him in as a builder.
 

God Bless Canada

Registered User
Jul 11, 2004
11,793
17
Bentley reunion
Metallian said:
i disagree, he definately qualifies as a color commenator

Perhaps I should clarify: when I say colour commentator, I'm talking about a Dick Irvin Jr. or Harry Neale type, a guy who works in tandem with the play-by-play announcer over the course of the full game. Cherry doesn't do that.
 

SML

Registered User
Mar 13, 2002
3,939
5
Visit site
Yeah, he's the guy pushing the broom at closing time. :D I like Cherry, even his bigot stuff comes off more Archie Bunker than David Duke. I always liked his rock'em sock'em videos. But the hall of fame? I think that's a reach.
 

El_Scoobo

Registered User
Aug 18, 2004
530
0
Your Imagination
He'll get in with the broadcasters, I have little doubt of that.

I always hate the argument "well he only played 1 nhl game in the 50's". Well had their been 21 teams or 30 teams, he would've been a longtime NHL regular.

Had the NHL only continued to be 6 teams then you'd have never heard of guys like Glen Healy, Nick Kypreos, Darren Pang, Kelly Hrudey,John Davidson etc. They wouldn't have played, either.
 

ClassicHockey

Registered User
May 22, 2005
595
6
He might get in in the Media category but that's not being elected to the HHOF. They are 2 different things.

I suppose you never saw Cherry play or talked to players who played against him. Cherry was a 5th defencemen in the Amercican Hockey League. And in those days, like in the NHL, 5th defencemen didn't see the ice much. Those players would still be in the minors in an expanded NHL. Cherry was still playing when the NHL had 12 teams and didn't get a sniff from any of the 6 expansion teams. That tells you something right there.

Cherry couldn't turn and he wasn't as tough as he makes himself out to be. As Ivan 'The Terrible' said when asked if tough guys in the NHL feared Cherry, "We didn't worry about the talkers".

El_Scoobo said:
He'll get in with the broadcasters, I have little doubt of that.

I always hate the argument "well he only played 1 nhl game in the 50's". Well had their been 21 teams or 30 teams, he would've been a longtime NHL regular.

Had the NHL only continued to be 6 teams then you'd have never heard of guys like Glen Healy, Nick Kypreos, Darren Pang, Kelly Hrudey,John Davidson etc. They wouldn't have played, either.
 

pappyline

Registered User
Jul 3, 2005
4,587
182
Mass/formerly Ont
No way he should get in. HOF standards are low but for a TV personality to get in simply for saying outrageous things is ridiculous. I know people that find him so offensive they switch channels when he comes on.
 

ClassicHockey

Registered User
May 22, 2005
595
6
One writer this week commenting on the issue of bodychecking in kid's hockey called Don Cherry a 'National menace'.

Question for you:

How does he promote Canadian hockey and what advice is he giving young players?

I've seen him over and over mention the same things like 'don't put your stick out to deflect the puck' and other obvious things.

But any 'advice' he gives the kids watching is superceded by the negative like' they should have broken Kovalchuk's arm'. Stuff like that and his glorification of violence with fights send the wrong message to the kids.

I'm sorry, but i don't see how any kids watching Coach's Corner in the last 20 years would learn anything useful but rather a lot of bad things that impressionable kids should not be hearing.

Cherry is so inconsistent too. He keeps harping on referees calling all the penalties without thinking of the bigger picture. He doesn't like the new rules because he's afraid that there will be less fighting. He says all the penalties stop the flow of the play. But fights are ok? The fights stop the play too.

I like watching fights but only if its in the heat of the action between 2 real players and not the 2 goons talking over in the pre-game deciding at what point they should fight in the game.

Cherry is entertaining for sure. But advice for kids? They should prevent young hockey playing kids from ever watching 'Coach's Corner.

That 'national menace' nickname seems to fit.

God Bless Canada said:
I am a very big Don Cherry fan. I don't agree with everything he says, but I respect him for his passion for the game, his efforts to promote Canadian hockey and his advice for young hockey players. I also respect his unwavering support for the Canadian military and the RCMP.
 

chooch*

Guest
ClassicHockey said:
One writer this week commenting on the issue of bodychecking in kid's hockey called Don Cherry a 'National menace'.

Question for you:

How does he promote Canadian hockey and what advice is he giving young players?

I've seen him over and over mention the same things like 'don't put your stick out to deflect the puck' and other obvious things.

But any 'advice' he gives the kids watching is superceded by the negative like' they should have broken Kovalchuk's arm'. Stuff like that and his glorification of violence with fights send the wrong message to the kids.

I'm sorry, but i don't see how any kids watching Coach's Corner in the last 20 years would learn anything useful but rather a lot of bad things that impressionable kids should not be hearing.

Cherry is so inconsistent too. He keeps harping on referees calling all the penalties without thinking of the bigger picture. He doesn't like the new rules because he's afraid that there will be less fighting. He says all the penalties stop the flow of the play. But fights are ok? The fights stop the play too.

I like watching fights but only if its in the heat of the action between 2 real players and not the 2 goons talking over in the pre-game deciding at what point they should fight in the game.

Cherry is entertaining for sure. But advice for kids? They should prevent young hockey playing kids from ever watching 'Coach's Corner.

That 'national menace' nickname seems to fit.
I couldnt agree more with everything you wrote.

Don Cherry is hugely responsible for the decay in skills among Canadian players.

Since when is Tie Domi a role model as a hockey player because he taps the other guys head after a fight?

Fans stand up and get excited because there is a fight? I bet they would too if a cockfight suddenly broke out on the ice. So what?

A hundred years from now this era hockey history will be blighted by the presence of Cherry and his facilitator MacLean. No one will comprehend how the CBC allowed this guy on the air.

Do I watch? - yes. But I'd watch if Osama was on in between periods too.

Some "memories" in no particular order:

1) his disgusting treatment of swedes, and in particular the gallant Mats Naslund.

2) Claude Lemieux threatening Cherry.

3) the comment about immigrants "they don't like hockey or something". How racist and plain wrong.

4)His cosying up with the Armed Forces - if he's so patriotic, why didnt he ever serve? Same for the police.

5)When he starts off a sentence with "Kids,.." I laugh as if I'd want my kids to do as he says.

6) Trying to protect the jobs of Candian players by belittling "foreign players". How UNCANADIAN!!!

7) Trying to protect Candain coaching jobs with comments on Hlinka and Alpo Suhonen....."Alpo?Sounds like dog food". To which Jack Todd wrote the next day "Cherry? Sounds like a fruit."

Ps. Thanks to Pat Hickey, Chris Zelkowich, Todd, and Damien Cox for standing up to him.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->