Times that you thought Don Cherry was for sure going to fired

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
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Now I love Cherry, the guy is Mr. Canadian everyman. He's popular with blue collar Canadians, which is much of Canada. Of course, he's hated by many as well, always has been. I have to give him credit, he is always the type of guy you want to go to war with if he is on your side. He sticks to his guns.

But 4 decades of being on air has left him with a lot of controversies. His first (late) wife Rose very much disliked Coach's Corner. She was very non-confrontational and she would have been happy had he packed it in. 20 years after her death, he's still doing it. If anything, according to him even, Rose kept him in check with a lot of things said on Coach's Corner.

So what are times when you thought for SURE they were going to fire Cherry. Obviously CBC and now Rogers knows they have a ratings giant with them and this gives Cherry a lot more of a leash than anyone else could have. Think Howard Stern or George Carlin if he were alive, minus the swearing. Cherry knows this and his bosses know this. It doesn't mean there haven't been times to try to get him removed.

I'll go back to 1998 at a time when I wasn't sure how he would survive. During the Olympics he made a comment that Jean-Luc Brassard - Canada's flag bearer - was just some "French guy no one knew about". I think he was pining for Gretzky to be carrying the flag. Usually things die down quickly after Cherry says something controversial but this one lasted a little longer. Quebec, who isn't in love with him to begin with, made a big push to get him fired. I honestly thought it might have been the end with him.

The other one was 2003. Cherry and MacLean are doing Coach's Corner and it was MacLean - not Cherry - that brought up the Iraq war. MacLean kept pushing on the issue and Cherry reluctantly said he thought Canada should have gone to help them. I honestly thought with the political tensions at the time and just how far removed it was regarding hockey (I always hate politics involved in our sports) that it may have spelled the end for Cherry.

Lastly, I don't remember him being threatened for termination on this one, but Alpo Suhonen, then the assistant coach of the Jets, wanted to sue him (or maybe it was the Jets?) for saying "Alpo sounds like a dog food." Of course, if Cherry apologized they'd forget it, but he didn't, mainly because it was factually true, and no lawsuit would last that way.

I just wish Cherry's beatdown of Michael Farber after the 1987 brawl at the WJC would have ended Farber's career because he was a deer in the headlights and out of his league.
 

MXD

Original #4
Oct 27, 2005
50,673
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I thought he should've been fired the minute he was hired and its inconceivable he wasn't after the self-inflicted credibility wound that was the Brassard drama, for which he was the lone responsible.
 

sr edler

gold is not reality
Mar 20, 2010
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I didn’t even hate him when he trashed my favorite player and called him a weasel and a black mail artist. I just saw it in retrospect though, and thought it was funny. Then Pat Quinn came on and defended said player, and Cherry subsequently went on about Quinn just being loyal to his players because he’s an Irishman. Decently entertaining.
 

streitz

Registered User
Jul 22, 2018
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I don't agree with everything he says but I take him over all the clowns that have completely ruined the game. I think some stuff he said just for shock/comedy value though.


If I wanted to watch a non contact wimp sport I'd watch the premier league. Hockey is dead and it's never coming back.
 

frisco

Some people claim that there's a woman to blame...
Sep 14, 2017
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Cherry is the only one who'll flout legal issues and call players out who intentionally try to hurt others. I remember Brandon Manning "accidently" slamming McDavid into the boards when he broke his clavicle. Everyone else was tip toeing around it saying it wasn't on purpose for fear of being sued for slander and fired. Cherry flat out said it was a dirty play and was eventually found out to be completely correct.

Ditto Niskanen on Crosby in the 2017 playoffs. Whether he's just got more guts, job security, or in his 80's a "I don't care" attitude, you know you're gonna get the truth from him. Wish other guys could were like that in these situations.

My Best-Carey
 

The Panther

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Mar 25, 2014
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As a kid, I enjoyed Don's rants and raves, and I was always impressed by his hockey knowledge and how correct he often was at picking series and Cup-winners. That said, he started in on (of all people) Jari Kurri one time, who was close to my favorite player, for being too European, basically (he didn't fight, wore a visor, etc.). I did lose some respect for Don then, and this is when I was about 12.

I did think Don came off as a bit of an ass after the Punch-up at Piestany, when he didn't even pretend to be objective.

He also went overboard with his love-affair with Cam Neely, and accordant disparaging of Ulf Samuelsson (who, conveniently, was European). There was a point where I thought Don was going to give birth to Neely's love child (or maybe Gilmour's).

But other than those incidents and the occasional brutal mispronunciation of someone's (easy) name, I can sort of respect Don. For a guy who can't really speak his own (and only) language, he has carved out a pretty impressive hockey-related career, later in life. Even though I would tend to disagree with him on 99% of his political views, I understand that his views are consistent with a lot of Canadians', particularly of the rural, small-town, working-class areas (such as where I am from). But I also agree with maybe 85% of his hockey views, although in recent years the game has, quite understandably, started to pass him by a bit.

I think even though he has angered French Canada from time to time, it's not a simple case of his being 'against' French players. In fact, he's equally 'against' Vancouver (the city; some of its fans), where he briefly played near the end of his hockey career. When he did like French Canadian players, he really liked them, as in the case of Vincent Lecavalier, for example. Basically, if you're a French-Canadian player who chose to represent Canada at any time in hockey, he loved you. The guy is not complex.

As to when I thought he was going to be fired: I never really had that feeling except after the 2003 rant over Canada's non-participation in the "Weapons of mass destruction" war on terror. McLean and he were on-air for something like 6 minutes, and not once did they even talk about hockey. I thought that might have been his pencil-flipping moment.

Although it can make for ponderous, Barbara Walters'-style TV, I do admire how Don takes time to show photos of and talk about Canadian soldiers killed on duty. His is probably the only forum on Canadian TV where people would watch (or even tolerate) such a thing, and I'm sure the families appreciate it. It's for this kind of thing that (certain) Canadians love him, not because he's a blowhard.

Don Cherry is now a bit like that slightly creepy and embarrassing, but lovable great uncle who wants kids to pull his finger at family events: He's somewhat off-putting, but you know you'll miss him when he's gone.
 

streitz

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Jul 22, 2018
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Jari Kurri one time, who was close to my favorite player, for being too European, basically


He also loved Steen because he played like a man, no visor, didn't dive ect. Kurri didn't go looking for trouble and just played an honest game, don't see why Cherry picked on him but aside from a few little snide remarks I can't recall Don ever going after Kurri.


As for guys like Samuelsson and Sandstrom? Give me a break lol. Pukes all the way through. Not to mention Cherry also disliked C Lemieux and Marchment for similar reasons.
 

billybudd

Registered User
Feb 1, 2012
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The other one was 2003. Cherry and MacLean are doing Coach's Corner and it was MacLean - not Cherry - that brought up the Iraq war. MacLean kept pushing on the issue and Cherry reluctantly said he thought Canada should have gone to help them. I honestly thought with the political tensions at the time and just how far removed it was regarding hockey (I always hate politics involved in our sports) that it may have spelled the end for Cherry.

I remember that. Sort of under-noticed phenomenon. McLean's reputation is the guy who tries to keep Don to normalcy as much as possible, but the reality is that McLean will steer DC in to unnecessary controversy from time to time. Happened in relation to Chris Simon once as well.
 

Star Ocean

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Dec 30, 2018
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Don cherry is not a european or russian hater. He is a swedish hater. He has actually praised a lot of russians but never a single swede. 14 seasons of sundin in Toronto but not a single good word on him.
 

golfortennis

Registered User
Oct 25, 2007
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I think the bigger question is, if Cherry's show were on a private network, and not the CBC most of his time, is he more or less likely to be fired? Let's face it, a number of the complaints against him are driven by people who try to use the government to have him axed. If not that, people figure they can score some political points and get some face time. While a private network, "change the channel" is the normal response, I think people really think they can actually "do something" through CBC.

The "fire Cherry" protests seem to have really gone away since Rogers has taken over.
 

MadLuke

Registered User
Jan 18, 2011
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It is true that is large salary from a public network angle was often use in the fire narrative.

I also think he calmed down quite a bit over the year's in term of controversial statement and age help, for someone is age he do seem pretty in the norms by now.

A Guy Lafleur say stuff that goes way more far than 2018 Don Cherry (even proposed the league to set a maximum of non Canadian player by team to keep jobs to the locals).
 

streitz

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Jul 22, 2018
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Don cherry is not a european or russian hater. He is a swedish hater. He has actually praised a lot of russians but never a single swede. 14 seasons of sundin in Toronto but not a single good word on him.

[Mod: Try again without sounding like 1980s Don Cherry yourself.]

He liked Steen on the jets(a Swede) because he played tough.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

FerrisRox

"Wanna go, Prettyboy?"
Sep 17, 2003
20,266
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Toronto, Ontario
Don cherry is not a european or russian hater. He is a swedish hater. He has actually praised a lot of russians but never a single swede. 14 seasons of sundin in Toronto but not a single good word on him.

Don Cherry, on multiple occasions, praised Mats Naslund and, in particular his toughness and work ethic.

I remember, during the lockout, when Naslund returned to the NHL with the Bruins Cherry said it was fitting he was a Bruin because he was a "tough little bugger."
 

Star Ocean

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Dec 30, 2018
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[Mod: Try again without sounding like 1980s Don Cherry yourself.]

He liked Steen on the jets(a Swede) because he played tough.
He had no reason to hate forsberg sundin or lidstrom. Don cherry is pretty much hated in sweden and it is understandable.
 

streitz

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Jul 22, 2018
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He had no reason to hate forsberg sundin or lidstrom. Don cherry is pretty much hated in sweden and it is understandable.



I don't recall him ever hating on Lidstrom. Foresberg was one of the biggest divers the game has ever seen.


Fact is most Swedes were/are extremely soft players, and Cherry didn't like them for that reason.
 

Star Ocean

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Dec 30, 2018
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I don't recall him ever hating on Lidstrom. Foresberg was one of the biggest divers the game has ever seen.


Fact is most Swedes were/are extremely soft players, and Cherry didn't like them for that reason.
Don cherry is just a senile old man

Edit: crosby is a bigger diver than forsberg
 

MadLuke

Registered User
Jan 18, 2011
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Cherry hated Crosby a very long time also if I remember correctly, I remember him before a caps game, saying we have 4 of the best nhler of the game facing each other.

Backstrom-Ovechkin, Malkin and Jordan Staal.
 

streitz

Registered User
Jul 22, 2018
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Edit: crosby is a bigger diver than forsberg

No, he really wasn't.


Claude Lemieux was a bigger diver then Foresberg, probably why Cherry hated him too.



Call him senile all you want, I don't agree with every opinion he has but Swedes are soft.
 

streitz

Registered User
Jul 22, 2018
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Would like some data to support this, the Sedins and Lidstrom are some of the most tough modern player no ?


Lidstrom wasn't a banger but I wouldn't call him soft.



The Sedins? I mean do I really need to pull up the Marchand clip? lol
 

MadLuke

Registered User
Jan 18, 2011
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Marchand clip is a bit of an example of how tough they were, they could play 82 games, cutting toes if needed and not getting in the penalty box during an important playoff game even with Marchand type unlike a more mentally soft player.
 
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streitz

Registered User
Jul 22, 2018
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Keep telling yourself that, what I saw was a guy getting punked while his team followed his example and got pumked.
 

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