Hockey Night in Canada may not have been in the coach's corner in the end, but Don Cherry was still in theirs as he reflected on the news that the iconic broadcast will no longer appear on CBC.
"It's been a long time," said Cherry upon hearing the news Tuesday. "It's over. What are you going do?"
Having appeared on that show for 38 years himself, he admitted he was shocked to hear this. "I didn't think (CBC) would release it," said Cherry. "I'm surprised."
After 74 years, it made sense that such a staple of Canada on Saturday nights would continue on forever. "I thought they would make a deal," he said. "I don't know what to say. Good times and bad times. It is what it is. There's nothing you can do about it. Just remember all the good times. There were many. There were some bad times, too."
Hockey Night in Canada on CBC may have aired its last broadcast with the Carolina Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup Sunday night, but for many, it really died on Nov. 11, 2019, when Cherry was fired. And when his partner Ron MacLean threw him under the bus to protect his own hide. A lot got broken there, and the bad feelings that came out of that still linger. But don't expect Grapes to get involved in any controversy MacLean may face over his recent goofy 'roofie' joke or whether he thinks MacLean will continue on next year's broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet.
Cherry said he won't be going there: "I have no comment" on any of that. Why would he? It has nothing to do with him. Cherry is a class guy. I did my best reporter thing and tried to get him to weigh in. He knew what I was doing. He wasn't biting. Having been off the show for seven years, he wasn't going to be dragged back into the news as a viewer of the show.
But for me, Hockey Night in Canada actually died when Rogers Sportsnet unceremoniously turfed the legend of Coach's Corner after 38 years on the air over his "you people" comment which many call "Poppygate." Even though there's been plenty of talent on the ice and in the booth calling the games and on the panels during the intermissions since Cherry left, it just was not the same without Grapes.
Those of us who grew up on Cherry on Coach's Corner always miss his insights during the first intermission and wonder what he would say. This series between Carolina Hurricanes and the Las Vegas Golden Knights is an example. While we don't get his analysis anymore, he did talk about how Vegas didn't adjust their game of trying to skate through a team that was stick checking them and instead start dumping the puck into the zone and go and chase it. "I don't know why they didn't do it," he said. "It works."
Grapes loves hockey players, cops, soldiers, and Canada. That said, he loves coaches Rod Brind'Amour of the 'Canes and John Tortorella of Knights, cup winner Jordan Staal, and arguably the best player in the playoffs, Mitch Marner of the Knights. He also displayed his sadness over the two Ontario cops who were murdered last week – something he would have done on the show. He loves cops, soldiers, hockey players, and Canada more than anything. You can't replace the legend, Don Cherry.
As a result of that reality, for many of his fans, Hockey Night in Canada on CBC has been unwatchable ever since. So when word came out Tuesday that the show will no longer be on the public broadcaster, there was ambivalence by some who really never forgave the woke CBC or the Rogers Sportsnet people for pushing the icon out for far less than many other people have done.
As Steve Simmons wrote in Wednesday's column, it will surprise no one if Rogers takes this moment to make wholesale changes as they get ready to meet the challenge of a new era. Time will tell who will be back and who will be cut. But Cherry at 92 was not thinking of any of that. He was taking the high road.
"I had a lot of good memories. And the fans are the main thing," said the Order of Ontario recipient. It's not lost on Cherry that he was an out-of-work coach after stints with the Boston Bruins and Colorado Rockies when his life changed when he did his first Coach's Corner segment on Hockey Night in Canada in 1981.
Cherry and I reminisced fondly on all the amazing times he had with MacLean as well as play-by-play men like Bob Cole and Danny Gallivan, colour commentators like Brian McFarlane and Harry Neale, and of course, the producers of the broadcast Ralph Mellanby and John Shannon. "There is nothing you can do about it," said Grapes. "Nothing stays. It's time to move on."
Hockey Night in Canada after almost three quarters of a century on CBC is doing just that. Cherry moved on from it when they asked him to on Remembrance Day 2019. But like many Canadians, he will always remember the magic it brought us on Saturday nights.
