Donald Stewart "Grapes" Cherry , (born February 5 , 1934 ) is a Canadian ice hockey commentator for CBC Television. Cherry co-hosts the "Coach's Corner" intermission segment (with Ron MacLean) on the long running Canadian sports program Hockey Night in Canada , and in addition recently joined ESPN in the United States as a commentator during the latter stages of the Stanley Cup playoffs. He is known for his outspoken manner, flamboyant dress, and staunch patriotism.
Prior to his broadcast career, Cherry was a National Hockey League player and coach. He played one game with the Boston Bruins, and later coached them during the days of Bobby Orr. He is also well-known as an author, syndicated radio commentator for The Fan Radio Network, creator of the Rock'em Sock'em Hockey video series, and celebrity endorser. Cherry was voted as the seventh greatest Canadian on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's television special, The Greatest Canadian .
Biography
Early life and playing career
Don Cherry was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada to Delmar (Del) and Maude Cherry. His paternal grandfather, John T. (Jack) Cherry, was an original member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and a Great Lakes ship captain. His maternal grandfather, Richard Palamountain, was an English orphan who was emigrated to Canada as one of the Home Children. Palamountain was also a veteran of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Don Cherry's father Del was an amateur athlete and worked as an electrician with the Canadian Steamship Lines. On the March 15, 2008 edition of Coach's Corner Don wore the green and gold colours of County Kerry, Ireland. In his segment following the game, he claimed ancestry from that region. Cherry's younger brother, Dick Cherry played hockey at various levels, including one season in the National Hockey League.
Don Cherry played junior hockey with the Barrie Flyers and the Windsor Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey Association. Cherry won the Memorial Cup as a defenceman with Barrie in 1953. He dropped out of high school, and in 1954 he signed with the American Hockey League's (AHL) Hershey Bears. In his first year with the Bears, he met his future wife Rosemarie (Rose) Cherry née Madelyn Martini (born 1935 in Hershey, Pennsylvania). Rose was hugely influential in Don's life — because of Don's minor-league hockey lifestyle, they moved 53 times; they rarely had decent housing or furnishings, and Don was often away playing during major events, such as the birth of their daughter and first child, Cindy Cherry. Six years after Cindy's birth, Rose gave birth to son Tim Cherry. When Tim needed a kidney transplant at age 13, Cindy donated hers. The two currently live across the street from each other, around the corner from their father. Rose died of cancer in 1997, and in honour of her perseverance, Don created Rose Cherry's Home for Kids.
Cherry had a long playing career in professional minor hockey, and in 1955 played his only NHL game when the Boston Bruins called him up during the playoffs. According to Cherry, a baseball injury suffered in the off season kept him from making the NHL. He retired as a player in 1970. Cherry won the Calder Cup championship (AHL) four times — 1960 with the Springfield Indians, and 1965, 1966, 1968 with Rochester Americans. He also won the Lester Patrick Cup the Western Hockey League Championship with Vancouver Canucks in 1969.
Career statistics
Coaching career
After the end of his playing career, Cherry struggled for a time as a Cadillac salesman and a construction worker. He worked as a painter earning $2 per hour. In the middle of the 1971–72 season, Cherry became the coach of the American Hockey League's Rochester Americans. The following year, the title of General Manager was added. In his third season behind the bench, Cherry was voted the AHL's "Coach of the Year." After his three-year stint in Rochester, he was promoted to the NHL as head coach of the Boston Bruins, a team which was coming off a successful run of two Stanley Cups and three first-place finishes, but would see the departure of superstars Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito.
Cherry quickly developed a reputation for being an eccentric, flamboyant coach who strongly encouraged physical play among his players. It has been alleged he modeled the Bruins' playing style after that of his dog, Blue, a feisty bull terrier. This approach worked as the Bruins, known as the "lunch-pail gang", were one of the NHL's best teams during the latter half of the 1970s, capturing the division title three times from 1977–79. The Bruins were able to defeat the rough Philadelphia Flyers twice in the playoffs under Cherry's tenure. The Bruins made the Stanley Cup finals twice, both times losing to their arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, in both 1977 and 1978. Cherry won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year in 1976. In the 1977–78 season, Don Cherry coached the Bruins team to an NHL record of 11 players with 20 goals on a single team.
Cherry, who had an uneasy relationship with Bruins General Manager Harry Sinden, was fired by the Bruins after a critical coaching mistake during a 1979 semi-final playoff series against the Canadiens. Up by a goal with less than two minutes left in the seventh game, the Bruins were penalized for having too many men on the ice. The Canadiens' Guy Lafleur scored the tying goal on the subsequent powerplay and ultimately won the game in overtime. Montreal went on to defeat the New York Rangers for their fourth straight Cup title.
Cherry went on to coach the Colorado Rockies the following season. Under his tenure, the Rockies adopted the motto "Come to the fights and watch a Rockies game break out!" This could be seen on billboards all over Denver in the 1979–80 season. Cherry's hiring as head coach immediately rejuvenated the ailing franchise's fortunes.
However, as he later admitted, his outspokenness and feuding with Rockies general manager Ray Miron did not endear Cherry to management. While Cherry did much to motivate the players, goaltending was still the team's weakness as Miron refused to replace Hardy Astrom, whom Cherry dubbed the "The Swedish Sieve". Cherry recalled one game where his players had got ten shots on goal without scoring, but Astrom then conceded a goal from the opponent's first shot and so was yanked from net. Of course, Cherry didn't help things when, after watching defenseman Mike McEwen ignore him and refuse to come off during a game, he reached over the boards and manhandled McEwen to the bench. His NHL career and the Rockies ended on a positive note when they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-0 in the final game of the season held at home. Years later, while commentating during the 2001 Stanley Cup final between the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils, Cherry recalled the experience of the Rockies' last game where he was wearing cowboy boots and after it ended, the Rockies players formed two lines so he could depart the ice between them while acknowledging the cheers of the crowd.
Internationally, Cherry was an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 1976 Canada Cup and was head coach for Canada's team at the 1981 World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden.
Cherry was the part-owner and the former coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Mississauga IceDogs. As owner and general manager, he gained notoriety by refusing to take part in the CHL import draft, and only play North American born players. The IceDogs' first three seasons were difficult ones with the team winning a total of 16 games combined. Cherry took over coaching duties in the fourth season. During Cherry's one season as head coach of the Mississauga IceDogs, the team managed 11 victories (only a slight improvement) and failed to make the playoffs for the fourth straight year. Cherry drew some criticism for his decision to suddenly allow European born players onto the IceDogs line-up during the one season he coached the team.
Broadcasting
After his Rockies failed to qualify for the 1980 Stanley Cup playoffs, Cherry was hired as a studio analyst for CBC's playoff coverage that spring, working alongside host Dave Hodge. CBC hired him full-time in 1981 as a colour commentator, but he didn't last long in that role due to his tendency to openly cheer for one of the teams (especially the Boston Bruins or Toronto Maple Leafs). Instead, they created "Coach's Corner", a segment that appeared in the first intermission on Hockey Night in Canada , with Dave Hodge. In 1987, Hodge was replaced by Ron MacLean, with whom Cherry has been teamed ever since. For several years he also hosted his own half-hour interview show, Don Cherry's Grapevine , which began on Hamilton's CHCH-TV in the 1980s before moving to TSN. His loud, outspoken nature became notorious, and his shows are described as "game analysis, cultural commentary and playful parrying with host Ron MacLean." Cherry also hosted a syndicated weekly television show called Don Cherry's This Week in Hockey during the 1987–88 NHL season. It featured highlights from the previous week's NHL games. The highlight of each show was when Cherry awarded a Black and Decker cordless drill to the player who levied the "hit of the week" (called the "Drill of the Week" in order to tie into the cordless drill giveaway).
Cherry's commentary is usually peppered with catch phrases like "All you kids out there...," unrestrained affection for his favourite players (including Steve Yzerman and Kingston native Doug Gilmour, whom Cherry affectionately refers to as "Dougie" and on
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