Coach's Corner
Cherry was hired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 1980 by Ralph Mellanby, executive producer of Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC), to be an analyst for the 1980 Stanley Cup playoffs.
[2] He was hired full-time for the following season as a colour commentator, but his habit of cheering for particular teams and his lack of impartiality led to his dismissal from the role; Coach's Corner was created as a result, and was hosted by Dave Hodge and Cherry.
"[4] During the first few years of Rogers Media control, Cherry and his bosses frequently argued, and during the 2014–15 NHL season, he had an on-air outburst complaining about the reduction of broadcast time for Coach's Corner.
During the final broadcast of the 2017–18 NHL regular season, Coach's Corner was devoted to the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, which Cherry described as a "national nightmare".
[2] The opening sequence featured Blue, a bull terrier Cherry received as a gift from Boston Bruins players.
[19] He apologized during an interview the next day, saying that he had read social media postings stating it was symbolic of Cherry "murdering the English language", and referring to him as Dexter.
For example, he campaigned for no-touch icing in order to reduce injuries caused as a result of players colliding at the end boards when chasing the puck.
[25] During the first intermission of game 2 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals between the Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights, MacLean invited NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who was standing nearby, to participate in the segment.
[2] In 2004, the CBC tested running Coach's Corner on a seven-second delay[12] after he made "inappropriate and reprehensible personal" statements on 24 January 2004 broadcast.
[25] The segment was also criticized for being a dominant presence on Hockey Night in Canada, and for focusing primarily on issues of interest to Cherry.
[27] The annual broadcast preceding or on Remembrance Day included a video clip of Cherry walking in a "war cemetery in France that's full of Canadian soldiers".
[3] Pat Hickey, writing for the Montreal Gazette in 2014, stated that Coach's Corner is not the appropriate forum to honour the military or to discuss politics.
[29] In a 2011 article in Maisonneuve, Mike Spry stated that Coach's Corner is "a caricature of sports commentary", describing it as a comedy and parody that is better suited to Saturday Night Live.
[32] On 9 November 2019, Cherry made remarks during Coach's Corner suggesting that Canadian people benefit from the sacrifices of veterans and do not wear remembrance poppies.
"[34] His co-host, Ron MacLean also apologized via Twitter, expressing regret for his actions and for allowing Cherry make the comments.
[36] The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) stated that its internal systems had been overloaded by a high number of complaints.
[40][41] On 16 November 2019, MacLean addressed and reflected on the incident during Hockey Night in Canada, the first without Cherry, also announcing that Coach's Corner is no more.
When the NHL season opened in October, the first Saturday night game featuring the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens drew an average audience of 1.247 million.
Cherry's last broadcast on 9 November, a game that featured the Maple Leafs playing the Philadelphia Flyers, drew an average audience of 1.027 million; in the two weeks following Cherry's dismissal the eastern broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada failed to make the Numeris Top 30 ranked TV shows.
[45] The album Supporting Caste by the Canadian punk rock band Propagandhi includes the song "Dear Coach's Corner", in which the singer directs questions to MacLean, asking why his niece should be subjected to requests to adhere to a collective will.
[46] It also refers to Cherry's ideology as "A strange and bitter fruit, that sad old man beside you keeps feeding to young minds as virtue".
