It was 8:30 a.m., and Don Cherry was settling into a boardroom chair at Sportsnet headquarters with his son, Tim, and their publicist seated nearby. They were promoting a new book, and it was neither their first nor their last interview of the day.
Cherry had already written several books. He has lent his name to dozens of hockey videos —the Rock ’em, Sock ’em franchise —and to a chain of Canadian restaurants. His life has been recreated in a CBC miniseries and he continues to thunder from his weekly pulpit on Hockey Night in Canada.
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At 84, he remains a force of promotional nature.
“Good,” he cheerily told an interviewer as everyone settled in. “Ready to go.”
In Don Cherry’s Hockey Greats & More(Doubleday Canada), Cherry revisits a lifetime spent in the game, and explores the relationships he forged along the way. The stories —whether about Scotty Bowman, or his late wife, Rose —often read as though they were recited on Coach’s Corner. Part of that was by design, with Cherry dictating the stories and his son then turning them into prose.
Before moving onto his next appointment, Cherry (DC) fielded 20 Questions from The Athletic, talking about Letterkenny, cannabis and the push to get an NHL franchise back into Quebec City:
1. Who was Madagascar?
DC: You know, it’s a funny thing. Not many people ask me that. Eddie Shore, he said he’d like to send me to Madagascar island. Him and I didn’t get along. Or, I guess, for some reason, he didn’t like me. It was a funny story. One of the reasons he didn’t like me is because of the way I skated. My good friend Brian Kilrea —he was Junior A coach —he asked him, ‘what is it you had against Cherry?’ And he said, ‘he had that look in his face.’ My grandfather was the same: It was insolence.
2. Jared Keeso, the actor who played you in the CBC miniseries based on your life, has become the star of another Canadian show: So how long until we see you on Letterkenny?
DC: (smiles) I never thought of that. Eh, Tim? That would be good. Beer and fighting and the whole deal. He is a great fella. He did an interview, and the guy was giving me a hard time in the interview. And he said, ‘Don Cherry’s a friend of mine.’ And he’s a friend of mine, too. He did a great job.
3. Keeso’s brother, Alan, will run for the Conservatives in the federal election next year …
DC: (cuts in) I’d hope it’s Conservative, anyhow. (chuckles)
4. What was the closest you ever came to running for office?
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DC: I never ran for office. I’m right wing. Maybe I’m too extreme right wing, whatever it is. No, I never thought of running for office. I’m too good-lookin’.
5. In 1990, you told The Fifth Estate that both the Liberals and Conservatives approached you about a potential campaign. The Liberals reached out to you?
DC: I don’t remember the Liberals ever approaching me. I know the Conservatives did. (smiles) They always mentioned that. I would be great, though. I would be fantastic. But I think I’m a little too right wing, and I have to admire the CBC for leaving me on. And I think that’s one of my appeals: I appeal to hockey people.
6. Would Donald S. Cherry vote for Donald J. Trump?
DC: Oh, absolutely. I’m one of those guys that worked in the steel mills. I’m one of those guys that worked in the mines. The unemployment is the lowest it’s ever been in the United States. I think it’s three-something percent. And the economy is as high as it’s ever been. Yes. You’re asking me the question: Of course I would.
7. You cornered NHL commissioner Gary Bettman last spring about the possibility of another team in Quebec City: Were you satisfied with the answer he gave?
DC: No. I want one. And Gary, he can dive. He’s pretty smart at that. And I knew that Seattle was going to get the thing. But I really believe Quebec should get it. A lot people say there’s not enough corporate, but there’s corporate there. I think they did sell out in 10 seconds. It wouldn’t be half-empty, and the rivalry between Quebec and Montreal would be fantastic.
8. Does Gary belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?
DC: Well, listen, I’m a player. I forget, I think there was 14 teams, or something like that, when he got in. There’s 31 now. So he’s given more than 200-to-300 jobs. I always admire guys who give me jobs, as you see with Donald Trump. I believe he should be in now.
9. Do you belong in the hall?
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DC: Oh, absolutely, I belong in the Hall of Fame. I was coach of the year everywhere I went, in the American league. I coached Team Canada and the whole deal. Of course I deserve to be in.
10. You are being inducted into the AHL hall of fame in January: What kind of suit will you wear?
DC: I don’t know. I’m very proud of my American league career. I don’t think it was for my playing. I was sort of a plugger/tough guy. I think they did it because of the great job I did in bringing back the Rochester Americans. They were going to fold. They’re a good team going now. I think that’s why I got in. I don’t know what I’m going to wear. I might wear this one. This is pretty good. Plaid. It’s a nice one.
Don Cherry, in another of his famously understated suit jackets. Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports
11. What is the best way to keep your beer cold during long trips on an old bus?
DC: I am noted in the American Hockey League, not for coach of the year and that. It was in Providence. I said, ‘gee, I hate drinking warm beer —how are we ever going to keep it cold.’ And I said, ‘well, we can’t keep it underneath, because (the coach would) see us getting it.’ So I thought, ‘I got it.’ I put it (in the pillowcase), ice cold beer coming in. And after a while, the bus is going down, and everyone had their pillowcases out the window, doing it. And it’s ice cold when it comes in.
12. Given the changing legal landscape, do you think postgame beers will ever be replaced with postgame cannabis?
DC: What was that question, again?
13. Do you think they’ll switch to cannabis from beer?
DC: I didn’t know what you were talking about. If you had have said marijuana, I would have. But cannabis? I thought it was another type of beer. No, I don’t think they’ll ever. There’s still something out there about the smoking. If they want to smoke, it doesn’t bother me, as long as it doesn’t cost me any money.
14. How long until an NHL team breaks through and hires a woman as head coach?
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DC: I really don’t know. It’s going to be a long time, I’m afraid, because there’s a lot of guys waiting for jobs right now. (chuckles) But a head coach? I don’t know. I never thought there would be trainers, women. So eventually, it will happen.
15. Your interview with Hayley Wickenheiser after the gold medal game in 2002 was perhaps the most famous at those Winter Games: Do you really think the Americans were walking on the Canadian flag?
DC: Well, she thought. I could see her coming, and I could tell she was steaming. I really don’t know. I can’t believe they’d ever do that. But they thought it, and it was the motivating factor. Remember, we killed off those eight penalties in a row. I don’t know if I could have done that. I would have gone nuts. I was so proud when they won.
16. How should Hockey Night celebrate Bob Cole’s retirement?
DC: Gee, I don’t know. They did a pretty good job the other night — I think it was two Saturdays ago — when they had the players salute him. I don’t think you can do much better than that.
17. Who have you heard, over the years, do the best Bob Cole impression?
DC: I have never really heard anybody really imitate him. I don’t think they’d do it in front of me, because it would sound like they’re making fun of him. I know everybody says, ‘way to go baby,’ and ‘they’re goin’ home,’ and stuff like that. But there’s only one Bob Cole, as far as I’m concerned.
18. What goes through your mind when you watch your life replayed on screen in that CBC miniseries?
DC: I never forgot that the girl who played Rose looked exactly like her. Believe it or not, she even phoned Pennsylvania to get the accent. I know this is hard to believe, but she thought, ‘I’ll phone the Italian club,’ and one of (Rose’s) nephews answered the phone. John answered the phone. And the girl, Sarah, she did a great job. She phoned and got the accent. She had the hair. I’ll tell ya, boy it was tough going. I’d come from the playoffs, and I was pretty tired. And the first time I saw her acting … it was tough watching. Because of all the people in that movie —and they all did a great job — but Sarah had Rose down perfect.
19. There was a great scene, when you drove all night to propose to her …
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DC: (chuckles) Drove 11 hours. I think the part I liked the best was when she was doing the scrapbook —not that there were many scrapbooks in the American league —and I threw the letter and said, ‘there’s another one you can put in, too.’ And it was me getting fired, or something like that. When I think of the movie, I think of Sarah.
20. Complete the following sentence: “By the time I’m done …”
DC: By the time I’m done, I think I’ve touched everything. I’ve done movies. I’ve done commercials. I’ve done books. And I think when I’m done, I’ll say, ‘well, I did as best I could.’ As my dad said, he always liked, ‘dust yourself off and pick yourself up again.’
(Top photo: Rick Madonik/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
