"Hockey Night in Canada" has been on CBC television since 1952, ruling Saturday nights as the premier showplace for the National Hockey League north of the border. Its most popular segment between periods was "Coach's Corner", where for nearly four decades co-hosts Don Cherry and Ron MacLean pontificated on hockey highlights, what Cherry thought was the "right" way to play the sport, and whatever else was on his mind.
It's that last part that's gotten Cherry, a former NHL player and coach, in trouble with network bosses and many Canadians over the years. While extolling the virtues of his country's hockey players, he's also exuded contempt for those who hailed from Quebec, Europe and the United States. He's advocated violence on the ice at a time when the NHL is trying to cut back on fighting and concussions. Cherry's maple-leaf-on-his-sleeve approach served him well when saluting Canada's armed forces, sick kids who happen to be hockey players, and other topics that make him sound like a Republican politician from the States.
What finally got Cherry fired was his comment during a November 9 "Coach's Corner" broadcast about Canadian immigrants who couldn't be bothered to buy poppies as a tribute to dead soldiers on Remembrance Day (known as Veterans Day in the U.S.), then wondered why they couldn't appreciate how good they had it in Canada.
Rogers Sportsnet, which owns the Canadian TV rights to NHL hockey (but still shows "Hockey Night" on CBC), chose Remembrance Day to show Cherry the door. They, along with MacLean and "Coach's Corner" sponsor Budweiser have apologized. But Cherry has not.
Don Cherry, until recently, has been a beloved figure in Canada with the loud wardrobes he usually wore on TV and in public. But he's also 85 and has to realize that the world--and Canada-- has changed on and off the ice. It's hard to know what he'll do with the rest of his life at this point, but maybe it'll be something other than yelling at ice clouds.
