Don. Oh Don.

Intense.

Donnnnn Cherrrryyy.

What a man - A man of booming volume, flamboyant suits, and intensely voiced opinions.

I’ve grown up watching Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) which also means I’ve grown up watching dandy Don Cherry on Coach’s Corner. Every Saturday night I would sit down to watch my favorite NHL team play (the Toronto Maple Leafs), and during the 1^st intermission I would catch Don Cherry with co-host Ron MacLean.

During all of those years watching HNIC I was exposed to several of Don’s rants and opinions - all live-to-air. Some of these rants and opinions have been heated, hate filled, and outright stupid. However, the way Don voices his opinion is “Don’s way.” He has patented his arrogant and in your face style of shooting down sloppy or dirty players, teams, or countries for that matter.

Don’t get me wrong; Don has had some awesome and valuable hockey advice for Canada. He’s been an interesting character to watch, he’s very patriotic, and most of the time he sends out good messages. But still, every year Don manages to wind up in the middle of a media super-storm.

One example of him being outright stupid is the time that he called out French and European players over their “toughness” and how they all wore visors. Even if there were more European players wearing visors, Don had no right to make those comments over the air.  His comments are either loved or hated by fans, which is why the media soaks up all of his jargon, somebody always has an opinion on it.

Now, Cherry has found himself in the hot seat again. This time for calling out three former NHL enforcers that took a stance on fighting in the game. Don referred to Chris Nilan, Stu Grimson, and Jim Thomson as “pukes” and criticized them for being hypocrites. 

The fact that Don went on air, called out these three, and actually used their names disappoints me. He could’ve made his point without the name calling, but instead he stirred up a national debate. Now, Don has the fear of a lawsuit in the back of his mind, but I can’t see Don losing if it does come to that.

Overall, I think Don is on his way to being senile. He is already an old man, so he’s half way to being a senile old man. He’s always played a great role of the “angry hockey dad,” but past episodes have made him seen more like the “dumbass hockey dad.” Still, I’ll keep watching Coach’s Corner. None of this has turned me away. Why? Because I love controversy, and I like it when people actually speak their minds. That being said, Don could’ve avoided all this drama by re-phrasing what he said. No name-calling and no country bashing. He could’ve made his points, just in a less direct way.

So for all of those reasons, Don Cherry took a headshot, got his teeth knocked out, and got tipped over in The Outhouse.