Don Cherry shares his thoughts on what the Leafs should do this summer
Love him or hate him, Don Cherry is a Canadian Icon. When he talks, people listen. The former Coach's Corner star still shares his opinions regularly on his Grape Vine podcast. Fans of old school, rock 'em sock 'em type hockey still love hearing from their beloved Grapes - although, they may be surprised by his latest take on the Leafs after another playoff run that didn't end the way they envisioned.
In an interview with Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun, Cherry advocated for keeping all of the Core 4, as well as Sheldon Keefe and Kyle Dubas, together in Toronto.
People are upset, but it will settle down in a few weeks. You don't keep changing the coach and management. You just work on it for next season.
There are always differing opinions. As for me, I wouldn't blow it all up at all. I would keep trying to build a family to try to win the Stanley Cup. I said it in my Grapevine podcast, I say it here and I will keep saying it: You can't do that by bringing in new people all the time.
I would never break them up. It doesn't make any sense. You have to have a family. It has to feel like a family.
I would give them one more year. If it doesn't work, then you can blow it up. But I would not do it now. You don't give up on people at 26 years old. They are great hockey players. The Stanley Cup is hard to win." - Don Cherry
Definitely not the answer I would expect from Cherry, given the fact that the Leafs' playing style is so different from his preferred brand of hockey. The sentiment that a team is like a family does make sense though. The longer this group stays together, the more chemistry they build and the more they'll have each other's backs. The Capitals, Blues, Penguins and Lightning are all recent Stanley Cup Champions who kept their cores together even after several disappointing seasons. It may not be what we fans want to hear, but staying the course is very possibly the right move.
The full interview can be found here.
| POLL | ||
MAI 17 | 689 ANSWERS Don Cherry shares his thoughts on what the Leafs should do this summer Do you agree with Don Cherry? Should the Leafs run it back again? | ||
| I can't take another year of this | 200 | 29 % |
| They are a good team, one more year | 489 | 71 % |
| List of polls | ||
