Don Cherry is cool. I often switch over to another dull Leafs game on Saturday to catch Coach’s Corner in the first intermission. He loves hard nosed hard hitting North American hockey and isn’t afraid to say so. The interplay between him and the deadpan Ron MacLean is priceless.
I love the sportcoats, the more outrageous the better. But in all seriousness, I do love his high collar dress shirts and wish I could find some.
Is this my opportunity to tell one of my favourite stories?
When I was much younger, and sitting up in the choir pews of our church (and sweltering in the blue and white robes) instead of out in the audience, the pastor sat with the kids on the steps–he did this every Sunday, before the kids went off to Sunday school–and told them about patron saints.
“Who’s the patron saint of England?” he asked, and got a mumbled “St. George” in response.
“Who’s the patron saint of Ireland?” Someone immediately piped up with the story about St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland.
The pastor grinned and leaned down. “And can anybody tell me who the patron saint of Canada is?”
“Don Cherry!” yelled someone from the back.
Cue general laughter and the organist playing the opening bars of Hockey Night in Canada. Good times. 
Most Canadians don’t worry too much about what a hockey personality says. The ones that aren’t completely bought in to PC (politically correct, not progressive conservative) groupthink, mind you.
ETA : That’s a great story, Kythereia.
oh i believe that for sure!, Stuff like Toronto Vs LA in 93’ with all the fights that occurred was actually good hockey with a lot of fighting. hehe Please don’t think that I’m saying he hates fighting! 
Don Cherry is a Hot Slut!!!
Dis him at your peril fools!!!
I loves me some Don - his suits are pimpin.
Don Cherry is damned fine! He’s a terrific speaker too.
There was a rumour of him running for politics - he’s a straight shooter which is more than I can say about all of our politicians.
In this context, let me bring up the 2004 Parliamentary Hockey thread. 
I wonder if/who the network is going to pair Cherry with…or just let him run amok? I’ve always thought the reason why Cherry is so entertaining is because Ron MacLean plays the straightman so perfectly. MacLean is like the Abbott to Cherry’s Costello. If you just had Cherry alone I don’t think he’d be nearly as engaging.
I remember that thread–what a great one! Even though my monitor gave me some trouble after that. 
Let me chime in with the opinion that there is nobody in American sports that compares to Don Cherry. I have to think some people in Boston remember him, though – he took the Bruins to the Stanley Cup in '77 and '78.
Love or hate him, you have to admit that he’s unique.
Cherry has a good point about fighting - it’s an escape valve. Hockey is unique in that the players continually mix it up, without break, in a very physical way. Tempers get high. His point about fighting is that if you take it away, it will be replaced with dirty hits and stickwork, which is far more dangerous.
Also, the presence of enforcers gives the smaller, highly skilled players some breathing room, which makes the game faster and lets them show their skill. Without Dave Semenko, Gretzky might have been injured early in his career (well, that and Gretzky was infamous for his ability to avoid hits).
He has always been a goon lover. Guys that fight and give out big body checks are high on his love list. If you think hockey should be cleaned out of violence,he is not your man.
But he dosent love it if its not clean. its not like he loves Ulf Samsulsen (sp?) or any other cheep shot player, hes very quick to jump on dirty hockey and Hes very positive towards clean hockey and when the game is being played right. I don’t think its right to muddy that up with goons etc…
Oh yeah. For example, the Penguins dressed Georges Laraque in Game 1. Phillips and Volchenkov were so intimidated, they refused to touch Crosby at all. :rolleyes:
Since my wife is from Canada, I’ve witnessed Don Cherry on many occasions. While watching hockey in the US, I cannot sit through an entire game. The game is just way too boring for me. But I can make it through an entire game when it’s on Hockey Night in Canada. Don Cherry could be the key to making hockey popular again in the US.
By the way, no offense to hockey lovers, these days I find all sports too damn boring to sit through for an entire game. That’s what I get for sitting though every important game of every sport on TV for the better part of 25 years. And now that I’ve stopped gambling, even less reason.