Don't mind Don Cherry. Half of Canada loves him, the other half either tolerates him or very much dislikes him. Markus Naslund once said he thought Cherry was just a cartoon character.
Pretty much this. He's a throwback. Two tone red & white 2 door 57 Plymouth Fury with fins out ta here. Small town boy who left home early & had to grow up fast. Lived, played, earned a living & raised a family in a lot of other small towns until Boston came a calling. Thing is, you can take the boy or the man out of the small town but you cant take that small town out of the individual, not at the age he finally hit the big bright city lights. He's a creature of his environment, time & place. Born in 1934, Kingston Ontario... born into the Great Depression, WW2, living in small town USA through the many years of the Cold War. Forged early in Kingston, an Edwardian, Monarchist, Militarist, Conservative outlook & perspective on life. You have to give him credit for changing his attitudes, opinions towards everything from french Canadian & European along with Russian players over the years. This is not a guy like so many others of his generation from similar backgrounds who one might consider "worldly". Salt of the earth type & of the type you'll find in small towns in every country.
You really have to give former HNIC Executive Producer Ralph Mellanby credit for taking a chance on Cherry in hiring him, had to have known that his opinions, his "sermons" would be absolutely anathema to the beyond left leaning socialist Apparatchiks at Mother Corp; the CBC. And neither he nor the audience were disappointed. Weekly, Don outraging some group or individual, Canadas' version of Archie Bunker in some respects, and it absolutely made for great TV. Ratings for his Coaches Corner going through the roof, millions tuning in to watch that & that alone, changing the channel, going back to watch their movie or whatever. The broadcasts in English Canada all Leaf-Centric, they absolutely sucked through the 80's, dysfunctional bit for a couple of blips in the early 90's & 00's, Cherrys Coaches' Corner providing for some dark, sardonic humor at times. Small town Greaser stuffed into a clown suit (and I mean that in a nice way, respectfully) railing against not just the state of the game, organizations, GM's & Coaches, the League, players and well beyond. Flooded with complaints, the Mandarins at CBC apoplectic, demanding his head on a platter....
Now, tell me thats not amusing? You didnt have to & most didnt agree with his opinions about French Canadians & Visors, about Swedes, Finns, Russians... and sure he crossed the line, thats what made it so successful, amusing, he had absolutely no clue, completely unaware in terms of PC Speak & did not care, unashamedly unworldly, living in the 50's, wasnt going to be dictated to by anyone, "g'head, Fire Me" type dealeo & that was that. You wanna Crucify the guy for having opinions that you'll find in every small town from Tuymazy to Tillsonburg, from Ostersund to Oshkosh of the same generation's? Clear the planet of tree's if thats what you have in mind. These opinions exist & to deny them, no. No chance. The xenophobia met head on with condemnation, and better it be out in the open, discussed, rather than be left to simmer, odiously spread in secret. Corrected. Don Cherry today is not the Don Cherry of 1944, 54, 64, 74 or 1980 or 1985, 1990... he's smartened up. With age, wisdom.