There's no denying that Mr. Cherry knew certain aspects of hockey very well and was at the beginning of Coach's Corner way back in '82 interesting to listen too. However, his bashing of Scandinavian and Russian players really turned me off. The old guy didn't have the vision to recognize and accept the fact that hockey was changing from his beloved "rock 'em and sock 'em" style to a game of finesse and skill.
Don Cherry, many times, crossed a sports journalistic line by using Coach's Corner as a pulpit for his own narrow minded political, nationalistic and borderline racial thoughts.
His comments about "these people" and consequent dismissal seems to have created, almost instantly, a display of rapidly accelerating polarization regarding political and racial beliefs within Canada. There is no room in our national sport for this type of personal commentary. It is divisive, not unifying.

Brilliant, Ek. Thanks

You do understand how American politics work, right? Being a millionaire is an advantage...
- joel878

Using your advantages is a good idea. Hestill had to have done something right to become a millionaire and stay a millionaire. People dont realize how easy it is to lose money.

I was just kidding around with ya
- Fakepartofme

NO FUN FOR YOU!

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

Very well said and I agree totally. I will probably never enjoy coaches corner going forward because Don alway got my attention, love him and he will be missed. You have to view him as entertainment and he made a point but like someone said if he had not said YOU People and rather you Canadians who do not buy a poppy, well that would have taken the racism out of the quote and I am sure that is what Don meant.

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.
- bikeguy99

Does your grandpa have a recurring segment on TV every Saturday night?

Using your advantages is a good idea. Hestill had to have done something right to become a millionaire and stay a millionaire. People dont realize how easy it is to lose money.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Yeah, he cheated on his taxes. 😂

I read the blog. Now when do we get to hear from the American hockey writer?

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.
- DoubleDown

nah, it's a lack of principles on either side of the political isle.

if people agree with someone politically, they will find an excuse for someone's actions. if people don't agree politically, they will take the opportunity to call them the worst person ever.


the hypocrisy on both sides of the political isle is nauseating.

All I will say about Don Cheery is this. He has not said anything sounding remotely intelligent in the last 25 years.

Who cares? Grapes can tie an onion to his belt and fade into the sunset.

Maybe this opens up the possibility of the return of Peter Puck, a true icon!

Hockeybuzz is apolitical... except every time I log in I see Trump clothing/re-election ads in the background. Hmm.

Can we also remember what Don said AFTER "You people,". He said, "You people, loved... WHO COME HERE, whatever it is...you love OUR way of life. YOU love OUR milk and honey, at least you could pay a couple of bucks for poppies, or something like that."

While the remainder of his statement easily comes across as directed at Canadians in general, that opening statement is UNEQUIVOCALLY directed at immigrants. It also implies that "immigrants" don't bring anything to the table and do nothing but leech off of "OUR" society.

Let's also not forget that right before the "You people" portion, he started to elude to the difference between Cities (urban areas) vs small towns (rural areas), but then caught himself for a moment. The implication being that cities have larger immigrant populations and small towns don't really have this issue. Unfortunately that only feeds into the divisiveness of the "you people" rant.

Don and Coach's Corner have been a staple for me my whole life. I am sad to see it end like this....but he was wrong to say what he said. Sportsnet let him go because they are a company who in order to thrive/survive take sponsors influence into consideration. That is what they did. Don was given the option to apologize/CLARIFY, he declined. He could have made a public statement simply saying that it was live tv and veterans are an emotional subject for him and he got caught up in those emotions and the perceived lack of respect for veterans.

For perspective sake, it is important to note that Don's rant is based on his own anecdotal evidence....which doesn't necessarily reflect reality. The number of poppies sold virtually every year (for the last 10 or so years) is in the 18 to 21 million range. The funds gathered varies year to year because it is a donation system. It's funny though, I don't remember him ranting or even mention anything in 2014 when things switched from Veterans making the poppies to a PRIVATE company getting the contract to manufacture them and using inmates as their workforce. Let's not kid ourselves, the private company isn't making them for free or purely out of respect for veterans. To me, profiting off of remembrance day is a little more "offensive" than the appearance that fewer people are wearing poppies BEFORE Remembrance Day.

nothing cherry said was bad quit pandering to the betas

He is not employed by HNIC to share his OPINION on Immigrants. He is a professional and needs to act like one. His actions reflect on his employers. This is not a new concept. Rosanne was cancelled because she made a racist comment and refused to apologize
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Yes, forgot about her. Looking forward to the 🍊 Barr wedding 💒

You don’t let your writers talk politics?? That’s a laugh. Have you met Tanner? He literally brings up politics to drive gimmick clicks in every blog

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.
- Copper n Blue

HA, the triggered comment was my assessment of your comment, not my status, i'm a pretty unflappable guy. i'm not sure i see the necessity of my military resume to the thread, but if you're suggesting only veterans can feel strongly about the sacrifices made of other veterans, I believe you're absolutely dead wrong. i've lived many years in both the US and Canada. i've watched as both countries have struggled with their identity for over a decade now. In my humble opinion, both countries see divisiveness grow when some group of people puts their feelings ahead of facts. Once the argument is made, groups begin to rally, facts get fuzzy, logic and fairness go out the window. it's an impossible measure to live up to. no one was (and never should be) promised they wouldn't encounter a situation that couldn't be seen as offensive. It's subjective, what is offensive to me may be perfectly acceptable to you, and vice versa. Trying to live with the freedom of expressing your opinions/feelings without ever offending someone else is simply an impossible standard to set. We shouldn't try. But we should always try to maintain civil discourse, it is imperative to a polite society that we can all enjoy.

What makes you so special that the world needs to change how they act to accommodate you? If you dont like the people in your neigbourhood, do you try to change everyone or do you move elsewhere to a neighbourhood that fits you better? You would move.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

If you will notice, I deleted that comment. I read some more of your posts and realized I was unfair in saying that to you. So, my apologies.
I would ask though, why you made the comment that I should leave because I feel that people are blind to Cherry's racism simply because he's a celebrity? Isn't that just what you were saying is wrong here?

he did nothing wrong but voice his opinion. We all knew he was a old nationalist BIGOt! Canada only for pure born in Canada by white the supreme race folks.
- daryl stanley

Maybe he voiced that off air. 😳

Clearly though more Canadians disagree with you as Trudeau is still the PM. And please, if Scheer had worn a black face costume 18 years ago, people like you would not be howling like you are now.

Working for a private company. Cherry doesn’t have the luxury of belching out his rascist rants anymore. Again I think you are a minority of Canadians who think it is cool to refer to immigrant Canadians as “you people”. He is a dinosaur who should have been put out to pasture 20 years ago.

"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
- disorca

I never said Americans were against immigrants. You can find that in every American city.

I never said Americans were against immigrants. You can find that in every American city.
- Eklund

America is based on immigration. And we gave the real Americans big casinos 🎰

No. He didn't say "you people." He said "you people come here and you love our milk and honey..." That is very obviously talking about recent immigrants. Calling it anything else is whitewash. Heavy on the White!
- Tonybere

Lot of ''recent'' white immigrants in Canada, heck Montreal has become the island of the French, because work is hard to find in France.

[quote=Cephalopods]
yes I am aware of the complicated issue of immigration and illegal immigrants, path to citizenship and the rest. This article wasn't the place to go into those details

I never said Americans were against immigrants. You can find that in every American city.
- Eklund

You implied it.