Cherry only crossed the line when he stopped at blaming immigrants for not buying/wearing poppies. The truth is, a whole lot of people who were born and bred in Canada aren't wearing them as much as they used to. To buy a poppy, you need a few coins in your pocket and anybody who depends on coin donations will tell you that a modern cash-less society has hurt their own donations. Many younger Canadians know about the reason that they sell poppies, but don't make the extra effort to buy one. The war that the day was designated to memorialize ended 102 years ago. Of the wars that followed, most of them either ended over 60 years ago or in the case of Canada's participation in the Afghan efforts, or Libya, are not well explained. Canada had no Vietnam. Apart from Afghanistan, did not send thousands and thousands of troops to fight a war with an ending or a decisive result. The media plays a huge role too, as the minute that Halloween ends its 2 month dominance of the commercial world, then everything is about Christmas and Black Friday. Rememberance Day, the event that the poppies come out for, gets maybe 3 days of attention.
Cherry was not out of line asking people to buy a poppy and support the veterans, but he started and stopped with blaming one group out of many possibilities. The second he left the blame on the feet of only immigrants, he made his sympathetic plea to "Never Forget" into a race-baiting screw-up.
He knows better than that. However, this 85 year old legend who always appreciated "finishing your checks" and "not quitting early", did exactly that. He left a lot of truth unsaid and left one group of people to shoulder the blame for countless others. Instead of a plea to understand why it is important to never forget the sacrifices made - he turned it on it's head and made it more about "why certain people aren't as good as the rest of us."
Instead of hitting the mark, he missed the point. Instead of clearing the zone, he flipped the puck into the stands for a penalty.
When the network gave him options to fix the mess, he declined. I really think that at age 85 and after doing this for almost 40 years, he was ready to walk away rather than apologize. He made his exit with stubborn pride in the wrong, rather than admit to the severity of his mistake. No way the network (or the league) were going to stand by and wait for the many sponsors of their flagship broadcast to start pulling back.
Cherry's spot has been bookended by ads to the point that the ads now run as long as Cherry's segment. That is big big money and allows Rogers to offer multiple games in a big night of hockey in Canada....even to parrallel broadcasts in other languages like Punjabi. Yes, there is an all Punjabi version of Hockey Night in Canada. By the age of 85, Cherry must surely have known that if you insult the customers at work, it isn't long before the management has a long talk with you about your future.

I for one am happy Cherry is done. I stopped watching "Coaches Corner" 10 years ago and may start to watch between periods once again. He's literally been a bumbling idiot for years and I am by no means suprised by his firing. Kind of suprised the networks let him go this long to be honest. I think he's done a lot for the sport but he's hated Europeans openly forever and at 85 he is showing his age and lack of even understanding why he offends people.

my biggest issue with this piece is you point to the U.S. as intolerant of Immigrants. the United States embraces immigrants. We have averaged well over 1 million LEGAL immigrants entering the United States for 10 years. (Canada is less than 300k). It's the Illegal immigration that is the issue in this country. Our southern boarder brings thousands of illegal immigrants. It also brings gangs, drugs, human trafficking, and crime.

don't confuse Immigration with Illegal immigration.
- niteislander

Canada now has the same problem with its southern border

and the US is 10x the population/economy of Canada

If the guy said "everybody", rather than "you guys", this whole thing would not have gone the way it did. That being said, every single person who enjoys their freedoms in this country, should dang-well display a poppy and support their troops who put their lives on the line. I can't understand why we play the pathetic leftist role of being offended. Good on Don for standing up for his Troops, and demanding that everybody who enjoys this country should show the respect that has been earned over much bloodshed.

That being said, I have thought the 84 year old was certainly starting to lose-it a touch. It was time for him to go, but Sportsnet should be ashamed of themselves for this leftist movement. Apparently words hurt enough to throw this legend out on the curb in the most disgusting fashion. Still have my old Rock'em Sock'em VHS tapes and they grew my love for the game since I was just a little boy. Can't wait to see the politically correct vanilla they throw in his place. Sportsnet is killing this amazing sport.
- bikeguy99

You need to be a canadian veteran to understand fully what is going on in Canada, a canadian veteran life is worth 375k for the canadian government, that same government that sends the soldiers to war, veterans are then forgotten. At the opposite you have a terrorist that killed an american sergeant, was convicted as a terrorists, Justin Trudeau awarded him a 10,5 million dollars in an out of court ruling, and he was made a national hero. That is what's going on in Canada, it isn't about racism, it is about justice, a justice for the ones that fight for our country, not against it.

Justin Trudeau and his cabinet is spending more money to help Isis Fighters coming back to Canada then they help their own soldiers coming back from Afghanistan. Then those Isis people call on racism to get what they want and try to change our laws to accomodate them
- toyster

Due respect but that is an over simplification of that situation. While I DO NOT like the outcome....it was in the end a financial calculation. The Canadian government was going to lose that lawsuit because the government had in fact violated Canadian law. Like it or not, that is a fact and the settlement was at the bare minimum half of what that A*****E would have been awarded in court.

I see idiots are referencing blackface from decades ago when he wasnt put PM. Give it up. Its lame argument.
Granted it was fn dumb each time, but he wasnt pm then and has done alot of good things for immigrants since. So fack off.
Stick to don cherry.

Jesus.

"Canada continues to believe strongly in embracing immigrants and when you walk around Toronto or Vancouver you truly see a melting pot with well-dressed business people of all nationalities working side-by-side and making huge contributions." - EK

So America is the exact opposite? You can find this throughout every major US City. We are against illegal immigration which strains the entire country on many different issues indirectly/directly.

EK is just another self-hating American - piss off

I've heard this exact thing several times, and it's so close to making a point, but fails to do so. First, the two have nothing to do with one another. Second, he wasn't fired for the comments, he was fired for not apologizing for insensitive comments or even acknowledging that it was an issue. Third, he's been a hard line bigot and mysogynist for decades. This is not the worst thing he's said by a long shot, but people are finally fed up with it. Freedom of speech does not equal freedom of consequence.
The bottom line is, just because you weren't offended doesn't mean other people weren't. We really need to get over this rhetoric of "people are too soft" mentality, and just think before you speak and realize there are other people.
- Copper n Blue

Agreed

And fack the idiots who believe this is a leftist thing.
Morons.

I grew up watching DC, always loved him...did I always agree with him....hell no! But lets not pretend this was the first time he said something controversial. Don has been walking on thin ice for years in the Coaches Corner segment and if you keep walking on thin ice, eventually you'll fall through. I'm pretty sure SN has been wanting to find a civil way of sending him off in the sunset for sometime now but was careful not wanting to rock the boat with some of the senior viewers of HNIC. Don is 85, nobody is going to change his mind now on how to think or what to say.
In this world we live in today, people are ultra sensitive and live and die by social media. Fake outrage has taken over and Don basically threw gas on a fire. If you're a public speaker nowadays or a TV/music star, you better watch what you say and how you say it because people are just looking for a reason to pull the "I'm offended card" and you'll end up getting lynch mobbed by social media.
I'll miss him and I think he was owed at least one more segment on Saturday night to deliver a proper goodbye. I definitely think he could've chose his words better on Saturday night but when Don speaks in the heat of the moment, things tend to go sideways. When his close friends chose to disagree with him, the writing was on the wall.
- NewfieStud

Exactly. He spoke his mind, and if you don't agree with it, let it go. These hypersensitive people who condemn him don't even seem to be hockey fans. Just people searching for reasons to be offended. It is sad that a guy stating his frustration regarding our nations lacking support of troops, suddenly becomes a racist by pointing out a lack of support in blended areas of the GTA. So what? If you heard my 94 year old grandpa, that would make your jaws drop!!!! Regardless of your background, if you exercise your freedoms in this country, wear a dang Poppy and contribute a donation! These veterans deserve unwaivering support for the lives lost, and time spent away from family.

At the end of the day, this was the final drop in the bucket. If he left it to You people, he might have survived once again but You people...that come here... that points squarely to immigrants sorry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z_T7ONUlJ4

In any case, he had been making racists comments since forever (Russians don't work hard, French canadians are wusses that wear visors to name a couple) or comments that just didn't go down well: female reporters shouldnt have access to the locker-room... I mean come one, we all grew up watching coach's corner and the calls he makes have been getting more and more cringeworthy. Sportsnet saw an opportunity to sever the cord and they did, I can't say I'm sad about it.

I find it amusing that the side preaching tolerance, inclusion, diversity, etc. is intolerant to someone else's comments and opinions that differ from theirs.

I was expecting an American Hockey Writers Thoughts attached

I've heard this exact thing several times, and it's so close to making a point, but fails to do so. First, the two have nothing to do with one another. Second, he wasn't fired for the comments, he was fired for not apologizing for insensitive comments or even acknowledging that it was an issue. Third, he's been a hard line bigot and mysogynist for decades. This is not the worst thing he's said by a long shot, but people are finally fed up with it. Freedom of speech does not equal freedom of consequence.
The bottom line is, just because you weren't offended doesn't mean other people weren't. We really need to get over this rhetoric of "people are too soft" mentality, and just think before you speak and realize there are other people.
- Copper n Blue

*TRIGGERED* I don't agree with a number of things DC has said over the years, but his support of the troops is unwavering, warranted and highly commendable. your feelings mean squat next to the sacrifice made by our vets. suck it up, buttercup, or one day you may not enjoy the freedoms your're exercising.

I find it amusing that the side preaching tolerance, inclusion, diversity, etc. is intolerant to someone else's comments and opinions that differ from theirs.
- garbow

Whoops. When someone's comments are purposely hurtful or derogatory to others, it's always on the wrong side.

Why are people simple enough that they continue to turn this into a debate on the PM? WE didn't hold cherry accountable for anything. Sportsnet did, and Sportsnet is not a democracy. And the only reason JT didn't come to the same fate when WE exercised our democratic right to hold him accountable was because Andrew Scheer is a complete incompetent boob.

Stop making them the same thing. Business and democracy are not the same, and you make yourselves look incomprehensibly stupid implying they are.
- joel878

it's whataboutism and it's what people resort to when they cannot defend the actions or words of the person whose side they're on.

Funny man, he had some veiled comments regarding the St. Louis Blues attending the ceremony at the White House...….
Liberalism is a mental disorder...….the struggle continues brother....
- manz3882

There's been nothing veiled about Jimmy Tan Tan's political comments. He regularly uses Trump anecdotes to try and discredits his detractors. He recently wrote in his blog about separatists out west being complete idiots...

Gotta wonder if Ek has ever popped into a James Tanner blog before.

"The world may be moving towards tolerance and acceptance but sports really isn't moving at all."

If you read nothing else in this article, read this sentence. The opposite is true. Acceptance is only given if you agree with the company line. Moving towards tolerance? I don't remember people being beaten for wearing a hat 10 years ago. Ek makes the same mistake as most other stupid people...He equates immigration with illegal immigration.

The big takeaway from this article...USA bad, Canada good. Thanks Ek. Maybe you should think about relocating north of the border. There's not much worse than self-hatred.

Overall nice post EK.

I agree with the following "I am an American and my country is bitterly and disgustedly divided right now. On issues like immigration, health care and climate change people I know, good people, forget their logic and simply pull on a Republican or Democratic jersey... No matter what "team" you are for, the divisiveness is awful and Canada knows this is happening down here".

We need to start seeing beyond left and right as this is only meant to have us fight and argue with each other.

In saying that, not sure I agree with the following as someone who lives in the Greater Toronto Area "Canada continues to believe strongly in embracing immigrants and when you walk around Toronto or Vancouver you truly see a melting pot with well-dressed business people of all nationalities working side-by-side and making huge contributions".

It seems that way but we have a long way to go still. Lots of division still exists between people who all stem from different cultures and hold different cultural values and beliefs (this includes Canadian culture as well). It may be a step in the right direction but again, still a long way to go.

Sportsnet saved their bottom line and got in line with public sentiment. Sad that honoring the brave military gets lost in all of this.

Let me get this straight...blackface is okay and "you people" is not? Canada has turned into Obamas America....Your only hope is the next PM is like Trump.....That crack smoking Toronto mayor would of been perfect, god rest his soul......
- manz3882

It isnt just about you people. He called all immigrants ungrateful for the sacrifices of those in WWII for absolutely no reason.

All he had to say was Canadians should go out and buy poppies to support the men and women who gave their lives for the life you live today

The fact he only called out immigrants is racist. He refused to apologize as well. The comments alone maybe warrant a suspension but the fact of the matter is they wanted Don Gone and he has a history of saying stuff like this. It isnt his first offense. The way he said this is the same as blaming a race for high crime rate even though we all know all races participate in crime.

Canada continues to believe strongly in embracing immigrants and when you walk around Toronto or Vancouver you truly see a melting pot with well-dressed business people of all nationalities working side-by-side and making huge contributions.

Point of clarity, Canada has a merit based immigration system, not wide open borders.

I'm pretty sure if you went back and watched coaches corner you find Don saying You People hundreds of times he uses that term frequently.

I haven't watched Don Cherry in years. Got tired of his schtick. That being said, he was paid to give his opinion. and to entertain He gave it. As someone who lives in southern Ontario his position does have a kernel of truth to it. But that's the society we now live in.

Only in Canada can it be revealed that the Prime Minister had worn blackface on four separate occasions, only to be pardoned by his supporters. This all despite his entire public image is that of a champion of social and racial justice. Now the same SJW's take down Cherry for having an opinion.

*TRIGGERED* I don't agree with a number of things DC has said over the years, but his support of the troops is unwavering, warranted and highly commendable. your feelings mean squat next to the sacrifice made by our vets. suck it up, buttercup, or one day you may not enjoy the freedoms your're exercising.
- rugape

Keep it classy. This is why discussion and the Internet don't mesh. Unless you yourself are a veteran, you don't get to use that argument. You must have a lot of anger in you if what I wrote set you off that way.

Overall, I am most disappointed with Sportsnet (and formerly CBC). He never should have had the platform for that long as they milked his last years in the name of ratings. Poor Ron was tasked with keeping him in check but it's gotta be pretty tough keeping an 85 year old from going on different tangents.

I liken this to 'damn kids get off my lawn' gone sideways. In the heat of the moment he probably meant 'young whippersnappers' just as much as immigrants but the context to which it came off left no choice. He's pushed poppies every Remembrance Day and it came out wrong this time. Has he said things I cringed at before, absolutely and I don't agree and don't think it's his place to get political. 'Age is not an excuse' was said to me yesterday but who hasn't had a grandparent say something that is dated or no longer accepted. Different when it's your grandparent.

I've no doubt he has some very conservative views that most (just barely based on the election) Canadians don't agree with and I'm not making excuses, just hate how it went down. Canada doesn't have many names recognized internationally that have endured the test of time the way he has and it could have gone another way. If he had passed away before this, he would likely have had a holiday or a highway named after him. A part of me wished that's the way it went.

He deserved a proper sendoff 10 years ago strictly for his hockey contributions but the networks didn't have the balls or were too selfish on the ratings. Like him or not on the hockey front, many people gathered to watch/listen to him and he was pretty good on the radio too for a time.

Unfortunately (and not unexpectedly) it ended this way. Gets the network off the hook so they can throw Burke in there like they've wanted but didn't have the guts to do.

*Edited auto correct 'meetings' --> 'ratings'