Don Cherry: The mouthpiece and controversial lightning rod who preached hockey tradition
Don Cherry is a Canadian Icon. Let's just get that out of the way now. The man is a huge part of Canadian hockey dna. From fans, to the players, his influence is overwhelming in this country. If you want to argue otherwise, you must like losing.
Cherry's Rock Em Sock Em series was a huge part of my childhood, and countless others' as well. I have to say this before we take on both sides of Don Cherry. I love the man, and he is a large reason why I love the game. That doesn't mean I always agree with him, and it doesn't mean I am here to fight for his job back. What I am here to do is to give you the good, the bad, and the ugly within the man's legacy.
Donald "Grapes" Cherry was born February 5th, 1934. He is from a different time and place than most young people today can even fathom. Don was a hockey guy his whole life, and while he was never a great hockey player, he was a career minor leaguer who played the enforcer role well. He did play 1 NHL game in 1955, and that's one more than most of us will ever play.
Don Transitioned to coaching when his playing career was winding down in 1971/72. He would take over the job as head coach of the Rochester Americans in the AHL. In 12 months, Grapes would go from selling Cadillacs, and painting houses for 2 bucks an hour to AHL coach of the year. Not a bad turn of events for the man. Don immediately turned this success into a coaching role with the team he had played his 1 game for. The Boston Bruins.
Revisionist history for young fans with an agenda happens a lot here. «He had Bobby Orr and never won» is a key one. Fun fact; Don Cherry coached Bobby Orr for 90 games at the literal end of his career. So kill that argument right now. He posted a .658 winning percentage when ties were very much part of the game. He once coached a team that contained eleven 20-goal scorers, let that sink in. Eleven guys scored 20 goals on a Don Cherry coached team. That is a record, along with Gretzky's points/assists record that will never be broken.
You can hate the comments on HNIC, but be fair as well.. the man got results. Did he ever win it all? No, but have you ever seen the 70's Montreal Canadiens' roster? If you are unaware, look up Habs Hall-of-Famers. 75 per cent of those teams are on the list.
He clashed with management and the media often, and Bruins President/GM Harry Sinden let him go after a brutal Game 7 loss in to the Habs. He would take one season with a terrible Colorado Rockies team, fail and leave NHL coaching forever.
He was hired to cover the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1980 for CBC as a color commentator. He was so successful and popular that they gave him the gig permanently in 1981. That was a role that Cherry would maintain until he was ultimately fired in 2019. We all know why he was fired so I won't cover it here.
I firmly believe the man's time had passed and it was time to go. His time was up because he had grown out of touch. Many loved when he bagged on Russians during the cold war, and we all loved when he showed us big hits and fights.
Is Don Cherry part of hockey's past? Yes. Should people be able to go all revisionist history and cut him down due to some poorly thought out remarks? No.
This isn't a forgive Don piece. Frankly, he doesn't want it or deserve it. This isn't an article to shine him up either. This is an article to remind you that even though he was wrong about the Leafs electing to draft William Nylander over Nick Ritchie, that man knows more about hockey than most of us ever will. Doesn't make him right all the time, and it doesn't excuse his abhorrent views at times. If you are going to talk hockey in Canada, his name belongs in the conversation, period.
