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Don Cherry


Comeback_King

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hey guys,

This topic has been popping in and out of my head for several months now and finally made the decision to post a topic about it out of curiosity. Basically, I wanted to know what your opinions are on the man Don Cherry, and can give me reasons why you like or don't like him? What do you think of when you see him? I know to you Canadian guys he's nothing new, but put yourself in my shoes, or RWD's shoes being in another country that likes soccer, or other Americans who can't watch his program on a consistent basis because he isn't televised (maybe I'm showing my age because I can't watch his program ever, can other Americans watch it through satellite or something?). There might be guys out there who never heard of this man.

I went to Canada a few times recently for some good old fashioned Polish weddings in the Toronto area and let me tell you, Canada is a cool country. I mean, it's pretty, some parts are anyway, some parts of Toronto are pretty ugly with lack of trees and the way the roads and highways are which I was surprised. But, coming from the shithole of chicago where I have to worry about anything and everything it was a cool ('wicked' as Toronto people say) trip. Relaxing, hockey is on every channel! On the news, highlights, sometimes they show the Blue Jays and mention the CFL but mainly hockey on the hotel room tv.

Which leads me to my point. I can't get this Don Cherry show out of my head. He made a special part of his segment dedicated to the Canadien servicemen who lost their lives in combat. I couldn't believe it. It was special, I mean this guy took a break from talking hockey and showing how cheap the Bruins are to start talking about this Canadian soldier who died in Afghanistan. And he didn't rush it at all. Nothing like filler, like, here I go have to report about the soldiers now. No, HE WANTED TO DO IT. You can tell by what he was saying, it almost looked like he was gonna cry. I remember him saying specifically, "I want everyone to look at those pretty blue eyes this young guy had, 22 years old, dying for us."

The only thing I knew about Don Cherry is my rockem sockem video my Dad gave me for Christmas in '94. He is a class act in my book. I wish they aired his show in Chicago. But anyway, I want to know what the Canadien guys feel about him. Is he a pain in the ass? Too opinionated?

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I like when he talks about hockey. He has some interesting insights, and the Don and Ron chemistry is great. I've read his autobiography (very interesting) and watched the movie that was made last year (basically the same as the autobiography).

I'm tired of seeing who died every week (soldier, fireman, policeman, kid who liked hockey..). I can appreciate that if he weren't telling people, no one would hear about it unless they were into watching/reading the news, but... I watch Hockey Night in Canada for the hockey. He only gets I think 8 minutes a week, and always has to rush through the hockey content ("do we have time to show that?"). Skip the obits, TELL ME ABOUT HOW WELLWOOD CAN HELP THE POWERPLAY!

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Or how about why foreign people can't play on the CHA. That's golden material.

And I may be stuck in a country that likes soccer and baseball, but I'm making up for lost time that began in the 1990s.

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Or how about why foreign people can't play on the CHA. That's golden material.

please explain.

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It was back during the Vancouver-San Jose series on HNIC in one of the intermissions in which he pretty much said that if a foreign player plays in the Association, it pretty much means that either your friend, your brother, your cousin or whoever won't get a chance to play in the team he was trying out or something to that effect. It makes me think what he would have said when the Gretzky trade happened. I know he tries to mean well, but he sounded like an ultranationalist or something. :huh:

He was also pretty hyped up about a Canadian player who got eventually drafted in the NFL. I forget his name, but Cherry was pretty hyped up about it.

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I want to know what the Canadien guys feel about him.

Canadien guys don't like him because he razzes the French.

Canadian guys are completely polarized, it seems. Basically you love him or you hate him. I fall in the former camp. I love Don. Do I agree with everything he says? Absolutely not. I understand that he is often wrong, biased, and contradictory. But he is entertaining, and you know that you can't take it seriously. And it probably helps to be born and raised on Coach's Corner and Rock 'em Sock 'em videos. Also, he does offer some good points now and then, and is bang-on about playing with character and heart. Ron & Don are great.

The military tributes are kinda annoying, but like Smoz said, nobody would hear about it otherwise.

Edited by Louie14
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Canadien guys don't like him because he razzes the French.

The military tributes are kinda annoying, but like Smoz said, nobody would hear about it otherwise.

Interesting. I didn't know that. Does he have something against the French or something? How does he feel about the Canadiens? Least favorite hockey team then? Really the only thing I know about the guy is:

from my viewpoint:

-He wears loud clothing.

-He only likes Canadien players and really takes it personal when more and more European players are coming into the league. I think he feels they are wussies, don't like to play hard, go into the corners and muck it up etc. Which I'm not disagreeing with him there. But like I said, I hardly ever see his show so I don't know what he says about the likes of Patrick Kane or Parise.

-The Boston Bruins anthem. I was shocked he stuck up for the Bruins fans and called the Canadien's fans classless.

As far as the military tributes go, I'm for them. I didn't know he does it for every episode. How long has that been for? I guess I can see where people are coming from when they watch a hockey show they want to see hockey and not military but, trying not to open a can of worms on what each of us feels about these wars, these guys did give their lives for us and 5 minutes for a life really isn't that bad. I wonder if this was his personal decision or the tv company's? I can see him saying 'f**k it it's my show, this is how I feel about these soldiers and I'm going to do what I want on my show.' He seems to have that attitude to me.

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CANADIENS= HOCKEY TEAM IN MONTREAL

CANADIANS= PEOPLE FROM CANADA

jeez how hard is it for Americans to get this

he is pretty polarizing, but i dont really love or hate the guy, he has some good hockey insights at times for sure but is really thick headed and closed minded retarded. He will constantly try to boost his ego by showing clips of stuff he predicts that happens, like every single week he will do this a few times.

also he shows a huge bias for both the maple laffs and the bruins, tho he will try hard to tone down the bruins bias when they facing a Canadian team. But if leafs are facing another canadian club he is ridiculously bias.

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I maybe shouldve read it more closely but...do i hear that there is whining cause he is showong tribute to dead soldiers ?!!! and to anyone in Canada to hate this guy your probably kinda fucked in the head to begin with,the guy is the smartest hockey guy out there and his opinions maybe a bit harsh at times but hes usually right ,no matter what you pansy asses think.Go change your panties and put on some briefs girlymen.

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Interesting. I didn't know that. Does he have something against the French or something? How does he feel about the Canadiens? Least favorite hockey team then? Really the only thing I know about the guy is:

from my viewpoint:

-He wears loud clothing.

-He only likes Canadien players and really takes it personal when more and more European players are coming into the league. I think he feels they are wussies, don't like to play hard, go into the corners and muck it up etc. Which I'm not disagreeing with him there. But like I said, I hardly ever see his show so I don't know what he says about the likes of Patrick Kane or Parise.

-The Boston Bruins anthem. I was shocked he stuck up for the Bruins fans and called the Canadien's fans classless.

As far as the military tributes go, I'm for them. I didn't know he does it for every episode. How long has that been for? I guess I can see where people are coming from when they watch a hockey show they want to see hockey and not military but, trying not to open a can of worms on what each of us feels about these wars, these guys did give their lives for us and 5 minutes for a life really isn't that bad. I wonder if this was his personal decision or the tv company's? I can see him saying 'f**k it it's my show, this is how I feel about these soldiers and I'm going to do what I want on my show.' He seems to have that attitude to me.

He hates the Habs of course because they kept beating him when he was the Bruins' coach ;). But I think he'd like the cup in Montreal more than about 23 other cities in the league... though I could be wrong..

He likes players who play what he feels is the Canadian game: tough with lots of heart. Guys like Doug Gilmour, Wendel Clark, Jarome Iginla... When he coached, he would always bring in tough guys who worked hard. His Bruins had the nickname, "the lunch pail gang," which he really liked (it's a chapter title in his book). He'd put enforcers on the powerplay to stand in front of the net and bang in the rebounds. He thinks the typical French Canadian and European game is soft, but I doubt he'd criticize a guy like Georges Laraque just for being French. I think he says some good things about Borje Salming in his book. He loves Martin St. Louis. He doesn't pick on the American game, either, since it's typically a tough game, too. So it's not about where you're from, but how you play... but if you're not a good ol' (English) Canadian boy, he won't give you the benefit of the doubt until your prove yourself to play the game he likes. And don't you dare fight with a visor on.

Pretty sure he likes Parise. After the Kane cab incident, doubt he likes him.

I'm sure it's his decision, not the station's, to show the military and other tributes. I forget when exactly it started, probably around 5 years ago?

(I think it's important to realize that more than anything they are giving their lives for the Afghan people's freedom from the Taliban, way way way more than for us over here across the ocean).

CANADIENS= HOCKEY TEAM IN MONTREAL

CANADIANS= PEOPLE FROM CANADA

jeez how hard is it for Americans to get this

he is pretty polarizing, but i dont really love or hate the guy, he has some good hockey insights at times for sure but is really thick headed and closed minded retarded. He will constantly try to boost his ego by showing clips of stuff he predicts that happens, like every single week he will do this a few times.

also he shows a huge bias for both the maple laffs and the bruins, tho he will try hard to tone down the bruins bias when they facing a Canadian team. But if leafs are facing another canadian club he is ridiculously bias.

'Canadiens' is the French spelling of 'Canadians,' if that helps it make sense to non-Canadians ; )

I'd say at least once or twice a month he shows a clip of something he predicted. Someone should make a website tracking his predictions, and what happens -- what his actual success rate is.

He did colour commentary on Hockey Night in Canada for a while until a game when the Bruins went up 5-3 late against the Habs, and he said "We're beating them tonight!" Whoops. He knows he's biased, but he gets paid to say what he wants, and probably wouldn't do it if he had to pretend he liked all teams equally (which he's probably incapable of doing :P).

Anyway, interesting on hockey... fossil on most anything else.

Pick up his book if you think he's interesting. (I hate that cover picture.. my old copy has him with Blue, his dog who would give him coaching advice (actually I think it's Blue #2 in the photo..))

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CANADIENS= HOCKEY TEAM IN MONTREAL

CANADIANS= PEOPLE FROM CANADA

jeez how hard is it for Americans to get this

he is pretty polarizing, but i dont really love or hate the guy, he has some good hockey insights at times for sure but is really thick headed and closed minded retarded. He will constantly try to boost his ego by showing clips of stuff he predicts that happens, like every single week he will do this a few times.

also he shows a huge bias for both the maple laffs and the bruins, tho he will try hard to tone down the bruins bias when they facing a Canadian team. But if leafs are facing another canadian club he is ridiculously bias.

thanks. But doncha' think that he is very knowledgeable then if he is predicting stuff in the future?

Smozoma, that was one of the best replys you've ever written. Thanks. I learned a lot from that.

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Nardwuar (Canada's greatest interviewer.. our Charlie Rose.. our Larry King..) interviews Don Cherry

says he told sittler how to beat the goalie for this goal

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  • 7 months later...

The only thing I knew about Don Cherry is my rockem sockem video my Dad gave me for Christmas in '94.

I got one of those videos for Christmas around the same time haha. Was it #4? I thought he was really entertaining and got me excited about the game. Man I watched it a ton with my brothers. I haven't seen or heard anything from him since unfortunately.

Edited by Klimanen
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Nardwuar (Canada's greatest interviewer.. our Charlie Rose.. our Larry King..) interviews Don Cherry

says he told sittler how to beat the goalie for this goal

Nardwuar is the friggin man! keep on rocking in the free world and doot doota loot doot.......

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