Hockey Icon and Former Bruins Coach Don Cherry Fired from Canadian TV for Comments
GoLocalProv News Team
Hockey Icon and Former Bruins Coach Don Cherry Fired from Canadian TV for Comments
The former coach of the Boston Bruins has been an institution on Canadian TV for decades.
He coached the Bruins from 1974-75 to 1978-79 and lost twice in the Stanley Cup Finals.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Toronto Star is reporting, "The long-time host of Coach’s Corner will not be back on Hockey Night in Canada following inflammatory comments he made over the weekend regarding new Canadians."
Rogers Sportsnet confirmed the decision with a statement Monday afternoon.
This weekend, Cherry said:
“Downtown Toronto, forget it, downtown Toronto, nobody wears a poppy. And I’m not going to, and he says, wait a minute. How about running it for the people that buy them?
“Now you go to the small cities and you know, the rows on rows, you people love — 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. Anyhow, I’m going to run it for you great people and good Canadians that bought a poppy.”
“'Following further discussions with Don Cherry after Saturday night’s broadcast, it has been decided it is the right time for him to immediately step down,' Sportsnet President Bart Yabsley said in a statement released on Twitter Monday afternoon. 'During the broadcast, he made divisive remarks that do not represent our values or what we stand for.'
'Don is synonymous with hockey and has played an integral role in growing the game over the past 40 years. We would like to thank Don for his contributions to hockey and sports broadcasting in Canada.'"
This is not Cherry's first controversial comment - he has come under fire a number of times for xenophobic comments in the past.