Should Don Cherry be in the HHOF?

[tarheelhockey]

Don Cherry HHOF

AS a player: LOL
AS a Coach: Debatable
AS a broadcaster: IMO absolutely YES, he was a fixture on hockey night in Canada. Lots of times in my youth when Cherry was super popular I was at parties the music was blaring, people were dancing etc and the hockey game was on. When Coaches Corner came on the music was shut off and everyone stopped and watched, when it was over we went back to the party. He influenced multiple generations of hockey players and fans.

He doesn't really have an argument as a coach. Only 480 games behind the bench, which is outside the top-75 all time. He's 65th in wins and about 30th in points%, looking upwards at guys like Dave Lewis and Dan Bylsma. No Stanley Cups, which looks worse on a guy who coached stacked teams almost every year of his career, and whose biggest miss was the result of a too-many-men with 2 minutes left in a Game 7. The one thing he's got in his favor is a Jack Adams Award, which unto itself isn't a distinction.

He is basically Dan Bylsma without the Cup ring.

There's absolutely no chance he makes it as as coach. Almost all Hall of Fame coaches had a significant turn in upper management, building teams in addition to coaching them (hence being inducted as 'builders'). Off the top of my head, the only ones who made it on pure coaching credentials are Roger Neilson and Pat Burns, who each coached more than twice as many NHL games as Cherry and have far better reputations within the coaching profession.

 

[Weztex]

Don Cherry is the greatest living Canadian. Fight Me.

His podcast is entertaining and enlightening, SportsNet NHL coverage is not. Doesn't matter how much your [mod edit] feelings got hurt, the man was a big time personality that's been involved with NHL hockey for half of the league's existence. He has done tons of charity work and pushed for a lot of safety measures in the game. There are currently people that are less deserving in the HHoF and I'd wager a fair amount that most of the pre-1970s inductees likely held views that were way way more 'politically incorrect' than anything Cherry ever said in his ramblings.

There's a humongous gap between some guys in the 50's holding shoddy opinions and beliefs we don't know about in his private life and a guy having a habit of shouting xenophobic and jingoistic comments every other night on national TV. And the latter doesn't get to have the excuse of living in an era where the geopolitical climate dictates this kind of BS. He just doesn't want to know better.

What did Cherry exactly built hockey-wise anyway? Seems to me like telling people for 40 years that this game isn't for everyone is actually a dynamite way of holding this sport back.

 

[kyne]

I was listening to an old broadcast from the 1980 Stanley Cup playoffs. Cherry was doing colour. He was concise and his analysis was both well thought out and articulated. Not quite Gilles Tremblay but pretty good at the time. One year later, he was a different person. Thoughtful analysis was replaced by unfettered homerism and intolerance. It was clear it was an act tailored for a specific audience and it's why Coach's Corner was created.

He was a failure as a coach and as a player yet here he was acting like he taught Bobby Orr how to play and outcoached Scotty Bowman. How is being unbelievably biased towards the Leafs and Bruins and spewing intolerance Hall of Fame worthy?

 

[Benttheknee]

A lot of people hate Cherry. He was an old school guy and rough around the edges. So what. Have you ever met an old person that could pass the virtue test of 2020?

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

A lot of people hate Cherry. He was an old school guy and rough around the edges. So what. Have you ever met an old person that could pass the virtue test of 2020?

He had a platform to spew ignorant bullshit on French, indigenous and European players for decades.

 

[93gilmour93]

For sure. He was a big part of hockey in Canada for decades. He will get into the HHOF in some way eventually

 

[Hanji]

A lot of people hate Cherry. He was an old school guy and rough around the edges. So what. Have you ever met an old person that could pass the virtue test of 2020?

For many older individuals that stems from being out of touch with modern day norms.

But Cherry isn't out of touch. He's an astute entertainer who knows his audience. Always has. He was painfully aware times were changing.
He intentionally kept the 'good ole Canadian' shtick going because that's his gimmick.

 

[tarheelhockey]

It was clear it was an act tailored for a specific audience and it's why Coach's Corner was created.

He intentionally kept the 'good ole Canadian' shtick going because that's his gimmick.

This really needs to be understood. Cherry played a character for an audience. He knew how to get a chuckle out of the lowest common denominator, how to sell cassette tapes to people who exclusively watched hockey for the fights. There's a reason he would show up in ridiculous suits and hats. He was basically a carney. That made him rich and famous, but it does not qualify him for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

 

[McVespa99]

He shaped the fabric of the game for decades. Absolutely he should be in, without a doubt.


To deny him entry is the very "cancel culture" people whine about. People can do great things, while being terrible people. In fact, that's often the case.

Agreed, and I dont think he was even a terrible person. Just a dinosaur who's opinions were formed in the deep past.

 

[Sun God Nika]

That rant on immigrants was sure unfortunate.

Oh wait! Were you talking about this one about women?
- “When you come to the games, keep your eyes on the puck. I’m telling ya, I’ve seen some awful smacks, and it’s always a woman yapping away there. Look at the game,”

Or was it this one about former enforcers with addiction issues?
- “The ones I’m really disgusted with …. The bunch of pukes that fought before -- Stu Grimson, Chris Nilan, Jim Thomson — the reason, 'Oh, the reason that they're drinking, drugs and alcoholics is because they fight.' You turncoats, you hypocrites,”

This one to David Suzuki and environmentalists?
- “I’d like to ask you with your left-wing pinko friends, what about the warming trend? I’m just asking you, the cuckaloos are always saying there are warming trends. We’re freezing to death.”

Or was this one about first nation kids facing closed doors?
- “Fair shake in life! Go out and get your own fair shake in life and work for it. Don’t give me that stuff,”

Maybe it was this one about Russians?
-“I’ve been trying to tell you people for so long about the Russians, what kind of people they are, and you just love them in Canada with your multiculturalism. They’re quitters and evidently they take a lot of drugs, too.”

Or went he went to a Rob Ford rally and said
-“I’m wearing pinko for all the pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything. Put that in your pipe you left-wing kooks.”

Of when he mocked “Alpo? Isn’t that a dog food?” when talking bout Alpo Suhonen

Or when he ridiculed the Yugoslav Wars as “Lower Slobovia attacking Slimea.”

Or maybe when he went on a rant against visors saying - “Most of the guys who wear them are Europeans and French guys.”

Or criticized french Quebecers saying :
- “They don’t want our signs . . . they don’t want our language and then they can’t understand why an 18-year-old kid from Ontario doesn’t want to go there. Get with it.”

Or when he referred to Olympic flag bearer and gold medalist Jean-Luc Brassard as "a French guy, some skier nobody knows about."

...

I've voted no and felt very good about it.

Ya after reading all that i really don't ever want him to get it in.

 

[thaman8765678]

Don Cherry is a Canadian hero. Yes, he has said some bad things but so have plenty who are currently in the HOF.

 

[Benttheknee]

He had a platform to spew ignorant bullshit on French, indigenous and European players for decades.

Care to quote him in full context?

 

[ottawa]

Nah...I thought we cancelled racists?

If he does make it in somehow, I hope it's after he's dead so he doesn't get to enjoy it.

And for his supporters...yes, I'm a dick. I know.

 

[ottawa]

Care to quote him in full context?

Cherry is the type that's racist without blatantly being one...anyone with half a brain cell can tell he's being condescending towards other nations the second he compares Europeans/Russians to Canadians. If you need context, then you should maybe evaluate your own stances.

I would be kind of surprised if he didn't make it in given how long he was around. He was synonymous with Canadian hockey as an icon for decades. People need to understand he was from a different generation, who grew up with different beliefs and views. To vilify a man in his late 80's because he doesn't share societies current culture is a bit short sighted. Instead of having conversations with people like this to bridge the gap, people are quick to just write them off and cast them out to misfit island because they're not interested in discourse, they just want to feel morally superior. A person can still have done a lot for hockey and deserve a HHOF nod despite not sharing your current sociopolitical beliefs. The guy was pretty rough around the edges, but I believe in his heart he still loved Canada, Canadians, and hockey.

For a guy as well connected as him and exposed to more cultures than any one of us, he can definitely grow up and be more accepting of others.

I imagine a lot of our grandparents did, so why not him? Especially since he's constantly on the national stage.

I understand your excuse but don't accept it...it's downplaying his extreme nationalism (radical to an extent) and the excuse of "he was from a different generation" is insulting to Canadians and anyone who he's insulted really.

It's the same excuse given to the fallen Confederate "hero's". They were people of their day. Continuing to celebrate them makes them great people of today, Cherry ain't that.

 

[OneSniffTwoSniff]

100% he should, the man is more of a legend and more influential to the league more than any hockey player to ever live.

 

[sufferer]

If you voted, "No", then there's something seriously wrong with you.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I don't think being a "media icon" should be relevant to HHOF access. He was minor-league as a player, and successful-but-not-HHOF-level as a coach. That's all the criteria that should count. And then if anything his outright xenophobia should be a final eliminatory nail in the coffin.

 

[BLONG7]

His claim to fame would be coaching a stacked Bruins teams to 1st place finishes, only to lose in the playoffs....
Don was a great entertainer on HNIC for while, and even that, he turned that into a gong show....
A No from me....

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Definitely, and I hated him.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

If you voted, "No", then there's something seriously wrong with you.

Your argument might be a bit more compelling if you provided rationale for "yes" other than "anyone who votes no is wrong".

 

[daver]

"You people" who voted No should be ashamed of yourselves.

 

[K Fleur]

There's a humongous gap between some guys in the 50's holding shoddy opinions and beliefs we don't know about in his private life and a guy having a habit of shouting xenophobic and jingoistic comments every other night on national TV. And the latter doesn't get to have the excuse of living in an era where the geopolitical climate dictates this kind of BS. He just doesn't want to know better.

What did Cherry exactly built hockey-wise anyway? Seems to me like telling people for 40 years that this game isn't for everyone is actually a dynamite way of holding this sport back.

He spent his whole broadcasting career trying to build walls around the sport.

The builders category should be for people who built bridges, not walls.

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

That rant on immigrants was sure unfortunate.

Oh wait! Were you talking about this one about women?
- “When you come to the games, keep your eyes on the puck. I’m telling ya, I’ve seen some awful smacks, and it’s always a woman yapping away there. Look at the game,”

Or was it this one about former enforcers with addiction issues?
- “The ones I’m really disgusted with …. The bunch of pukes that fought before -- Stu Grimson, Chris Nilan, Jim Thomson — the reason, 'Oh, the reason that they're drinking, drugs and alcoholics is because they fight.' You turncoats, you hypocrites,”

This one to David Suzuki and environmentalists?
- “I’d like to ask you with your left-wing pinko friends, what about the warming trend? I’m just asking you, the cuckaloos are always saying there are warming trends. We’re freezing to death.”

Or was this one about first nation kids facing closed doors?
- “Fair shake in life! Go out and get your own fair shake in life and work for it. Don’t give me that stuff,”

Maybe it was this one about Russians?
-“I’ve been trying to tell you people for so long about the Russians, what kind of people they are, and you just love them in Canada with your multiculturalism. They’re quitters and evidently they take a lot of drugs, too.”

Or went he went to a Rob Ford rally and said
-“I’m wearing pinko for all the pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything. Put that in your pipe you left-wing kooks.”

Of when he mocked “Alpo? Isn’t that a dog food?” when talking bout Alpo Suhonen

Or when he ridiculed the Yugoslav Wars as “Lower Slobovia attacking Slimea.”

Or maybe when he went on a rant against visors saying - “Most of the guys who wear them are Europeans and French guys.”

Or criticized french Quebecers saying :
- “They don’t want our signs . . . they don’t want our language and then they can’t understand why an 18-year-old kid from Ontario doesn’t want to go there. Get with it.”

Or when he referred to Olympic flag bearer and gold medalist Jean-Luc Brassard as "a French guy, some skier nobody knows about."

...

I've voted no and felt very good about it.

@Benttheknee, what, does this need context?

 

[BudBundy]

@Benttheknee, what, does this need context?

Does any of that deserve hyperbolic vilification? Such as…He said he’s seen women get hit by pucks because they were chatting instead of watching! The horror! Clearly a misogynistic bastard! Off with his head! Whatever. Take your gold medal in the victim Olympics and go fume in the corner over your next perceived slight.

 

[OneSniffTwoSniff]

I think he is one of the greatest and one of the most important Canadians to ever live. The man has done more in his long lifetime than politicians, doctors etc.