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Tag: Hockey Night in Canada

  • TXHT Opinion: Ron MacLean Announces End of “Coach’s Corner”

    TXHT Opinion: Ron MacLean Announces End of “Coach’s Corner”

    As a follow-up to my previous article about the firing of Don Cherry from Hockey Night in Canada, his former cohost of the “Coach’s Corner” Ron MacLean, announced last night that going forward there will be no more “Coach’s Corner”. Last Saturday night on the now former segment, former commentator Don Cherry made disparaging remarks about immigrants in Canada who don’t wear the Canadian poppy as Canada’s Remembrance Day was quickly approaching. The holiday was celebrated this past Monday and Cherry was fired on the holiday for which his divisive comments were about. Besides announcing the end of Coach’s Corner, Ron MacLean lent us the audiences his thoughts on Cherry’s firing and his in the moment inaction of the displeasing comments that were being made. You can see and hear Ron MacLean’s comments on the situation below:

     

    My Reaction:

    First of all, I will commend Ron MacLean for being willing to sit there on live television (with no teleprompter and just his raw emotions) and face the music to discuss what happened a week ago. At the same time, the segment seemed very awkward and the apology appeared to be very scattered. I will say he did seem very remorseful and sad about what had happened and his inaction within the moment while Don Cherry was making his very crude remarks. The reality is, Ron MacLean should have disavowed Cherry’s comments while it was happening but unfortunately he didn’t. However, there is one part of the segment I wish MacLean would’ve taken things a step further to disavow Cherry’s comments.

    MacLean should have explained why he decided to “go one way” and discuss why Don Cherry’s comments were completely and utterly unacceptable. You have to be able to put your friendships aside at times and call your friends out when they are wrong. It doesn’t help the person to change or see what they did wrong when you don’t hold them accountable. 

  • TXHT Opinion: Sportsnet fires Don Cherry from Hockey Night in Canada

    TXHT Opinion: Sportsnet fires Don Cherry from Hockey Night in Canada

    On Saturday night while on his usual “Coach’s Corner” on Hockey Night in Canada, commentator Don Cherry made some very displeasing & uncomfortable comments about immigrants in Canada. Cherry used his “Coach’s Corner” segment to publicly criticize immigrants who didn’t wear poppy pins while leading up to Canada’s Remembrance Day. These poppy pins are sold by military veterans groups and are they are worn in honor of those who served in the Canadian military.

    Don Cherry used the following language Saturday night during his “Coach’s Corner” segment about immigrants below as well as a video to better hear and see the context of what was said:

    “I live in Mississauga [Ontario]. Very few people wear the poppy. Downtown Toronto, forget it. Nobody wears the poppy…. Now you go to the small cities. You people … that come here, whatever it is — you love our way of life. You love our milk and honey. At least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada. These guys paid the biggest price for that,” Cherry said.

     

     

    His words caused a big uprising around social media with many people calling for Don Cherry to be fired. Coach’s Corner” co-host Ron MacLean noticeably during the segment remained silent to these uncomfortable words and was even seen giving his thumbs up approval of what Cherry was saying. Since then, MacLean has released a statement through Sportnet as well as publicly apologizing live on Sportsnet’s “Hometown Hockey” last night for his behavior during the segment below:

     

    Sportsnet has since released a statement about the firing of Don Cherry also seen below:

     

    My take on the firing/Ron MacLean:

    To be 100% honest, Don Cherry should have been fired a long time ago. This is not the first time Cherry has used vulgar, displeasing, and/or uncomfortable words about immigrants and especially European NHL players. Unfortunately, the language which he’s been using for years has been given a blind eye to and it should not be a surprise that it was done on Saturday night. In particular, he has been very well known and critical of NHL players from Russia specifically calling out players such as Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, amongst others as well. His views and mindset on today’s modern NHL are very outdated as well, and it was time for him to move on.

    The main point here is that Don Cherry was let go for using inappropriate language about immigrants and he needed to finally be held accountable for his actions. It took too long unfortunately to do so. The language that was used by him was very divisive when it shouldn’t be. Hockey and sports in general are meant to be the best of us all and bring fans of the game and human beings together and not divide us. It’s very sad that he made comments like these and he still has these kinds of viewpoints. He even doubled down on his comments as he briefly spoke to the Toronto Sun by stating “I have had my say”. The simple fact that he didn’t want to look at what he said was inappropriate and take responsibility for his actions shows that it was the correct decision to fire him and finally move on.

    As for cohost Ron MacLean, it was very disappointing that he stood there silent while Cherry was making the remarks and even gave his thumbs up. However, I am happy that he came out rather quickly to apologize and seemed very humble and genuine about his apology and about what transpired on Saturday night. Hopefully, he learned from this and he’s never a part of something like this again. Otherwise, like Don Cherry he’ll need to be held accountable too.

  • Don Cherry Doesn’t Like Fun

    Don Cherry Doesn’t Like Fun

    As everyone knows Hockey Night in Canada is a staple for hockey fans every Saturday night, and not just for the hockey, but for the intermission segments. While we here at TXHT love Saturday Headlines for the insider knowledge that is shared with us, it’s Coach’s Corner featuring Don Cherry that always seems to spark a lot of conversation.

     

    Well Don has done it again to get us talking. This time by going after something that everyone loves to do in hockey, and that’s celebrating… again.

     

    For the third time now, Cherry has gone after Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov for his Kuzy Bird goal celebration that he does for his daughter, but for Don Cherry that makes Kuznetsov a “jerk”, and Cherry made such a claim last night saying it is “Hockey Karma” that the Capitals lost to Tampa Bay on Wednesday night because Kuznetsov pulled out the celebration after tying the game in the final minutes to send it to overtime.

     

    Cherry has also made such claims against the Carolina Hurricanes who have been doing their Storm Surge victory celebrations after the game is over at home, to the entertainment of the fans. Cherry even went as far as calling the Hurricanes a “Bunch of Jerks” which the Hurricanes adopted and made a part of their marketing to the fans delight.

     

    At the end of the day all we can say is this. Don Cherry doesn’t like fun. He thinks everyone has to be “professional” and no one can do professional like the way Canadians can. Anything outside of a fist pump or shake is too much for celebrating goals, and that right there proves that Cherry just doesn’t get it and won’t evolve with the times.

     

    The NHL values entertainment, and that’s what Evgeny Kuznetsov and the Carolina Hurricanes are providing, despite Cherry’s feelings or views. The celebrations are great for marketing, attracting new fans, and most importantly, putting butts in seats at the games.

     

    Personally I make a point to watch Coach’s Corner and Saturday Headlines, which is the better of the two, and it’s become clear that Don Cherry is not capable of being a true ambassador to the game and needs to be replaced. Cherry can still give you a gem or two every now and then, but you can tell he is not accepting to today’s NHL. But at least he’s given us some cool marketing this season.

     

    Also, did anyone tell Cherry that Kuznetsov had another reason to do the Kuzy Bird besides for his daughter?