Don, Mon Cherie

Why We Need Don Cherry

by Stevie Harper

Canada may often be thought of as a perpetually snow-plastered, dry, cold, wasteland, but our beautiful Canadian country is filled with colors. The True North Strong and Free is known to be filled with vivid velvet reds, shining flowery pinks, unforgettable checkered yellows, Byzantine-Islamic patterns, and many more beautiful natural colors documented by the garments of CBC hockey commentator, former hockey player, and former hockey coach Don Cherry. It’s as if the man is the true essence of old Canada, having been the one to place the mayoral chain around Rob Ford’s neck, staunchly supporting Stephen Harper on the military action in Iraq and fighting to keep female reporters out of men’s locker rooms.

As a true Canadian who we all admire, Don Cherry is also a valued expert on hockey. With the junior league teams in the Ontario Hockey Association, Don Cherry won the Memorial Cup in 1953. He exhibited prodigious skill, stopped from entering the NHL only by injuries in baseball. It’s as if God had to take him down but couldn’t get a swing at him during hockey. At the end of his playing career, Don Cherry felt the need to share his Northern wisdom with the Americans who wished hard enough for his aid, which he did as their coach. When his time with individual times was over, he found his true calling in televised sportscasting, in which he resolved to share his spectacular Canadian colors and hockey expertise to anybody wishing to watch. Don Cherry is an integral part of both Canada and hockey, and he remains involved well into his eighties. Can hockey, or Canada as a nation, even survive without his benevolent presence?