Don Cherry, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a former Canadian ice hockey commentator and sports writer. He was previously a professional hockey player and National Hockey League (NHL) head coach.
Cherry played one game with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five seasons after concluding a successful playing career in the American Hockey League, leading the team to four division titles and two appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals.
From 1986 to 2019, Cherry co-hosted Coach's Corner—a segment aired during CBC's Saturday-night NHL broadcast Hockey Night in Canada, with Ron MacLean. Nicknamed Grapes, he is known for his outspoken manner and opinions, and his flamboyant dress. By the 2018–19 NHL season, Cherry and MacLean had hosted Coach's Corner for 33 seasons. From 1984 to 2019, Cherry hosted Grapeline, a short-form radio segment with fellow sportscaster Brian Williams. He created and starred in the direct-to-video series Don Cherry's Rock'Em Sock'em Hockey from 1989 to 2018.
In 2004, Cherry was voted by viewers as the seventh-greatest Canadian of all-time in the CBC miniseries The Greatest Canadian. In March 2010, his life was dramatized in a two-part CBC movie, Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story, based on a script written by his son, Timothy Cherry. In March 2012, CBC aired a sequel, The Wrath of Grapes: The Don Cherry Story II.
Cherry has sometimes proven controversial for making political comments during Coach's Corner, having faced criticism for remarks regarding Canada's lack of support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, insinuating that only "Europeans and French guys" wore visors on their helmets, and denying climate change. In November 2019, Cherry was fired by Sportsnet from Hockey Night in Canada for his comments implying that Canadian immigrants benefit from the sacrifices of veterans but do not wear Remembrance Day poppies.