OT: Did Don Cherry Begin 2011-12 by Igniting His Demise?

I generally avoid talking about him, but in this case I’m curious if the rants about “turncoat” former enforcers (not his bit on Stevens and hitting — that’s standard fare from him) — will bring new heat since he just attacked his allies.

I wonder if Cherry has watched the Shanahan “These are legal hits” video. Because there are a ton of great, legal hits there. And in my book, the more NHLers learn how to actually deliver clean checks, the more clean checks there shall be.

the part that showed me how idiotic he trully is. He hides behind charity work and the military to enable his Euro hating pro violence rants on the air. Or at least in my opinion.

not wear seatbelts, smoke. Does a guy coming out now against smoking make him ahypocrite because he smoked before. Wrong is wrong

making a name and a career for themselves by themselves, then retiring and saying… hey you don’t get to do it too.

First of all, what he said was misleading at best. Second, are you saying a career enforcer can’t come out and advocate against fighting if he has 1) new information or 2) a change of perspective? So a former tobacco exec can’t come out and say, “You know what, nicotine is addictive and smoking leads to lung cancer, it’s a bad idea.”?

What Cherry did that was wrong was his typical formula: Take several loosely related events, tie them together in a package to serve his rant, and don’t bother whether he has the details right, or whether he’s smeared someone in the process. He does it all the time, but this time I wonder if it hurts more because he’s attacked traditional allies.

Everything else doesn’t matter.

That said, on the topic of hitting and the fear Shanabans will remove it from the game, I found the David Backes interview a damn good read.

Backes hits like a truck and doesn’t go head-hunting nor racking up suspensions. His thoughts are exactly how I’ve viewed checking for two decades. It’s a skill, not a right. If players are backing off right now, then good: They should be focused on delivering legal devastating checks, not checking everything that moves simply because they can reach it.

But it does NOT make sense.

he was making perfect sense, unfortunately sometimes the darts are way off mark

But the larger problem still remains that your brain is going to change direction inside your cranium and collide with your skull. There’s only so much a better shell around the outside of your skull can do to reduce that change in direction.

If forwards and defense men know have to wear their numbers on the front, why don’t net minders?

Well done NSIF.
I do enjoy a good DC rant once in a while… and he does take me back to an era that I greatly enjoyed. But if we are going to take this game to the 21st century there will have to be a new road. It’s gonna be bumpy, but I trust Shanny (though, small sample) driving on it. Cherry is still getting is only getting his drivers licence because the AARP is too powerful a lobby.
“I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather…. not yelling and screaming like the rest of the people in the car”

But we’re here for you.

“We’ve talked about this every period and I’m starting to piss me off.”

That’s our, Mike. He’s even mad at himself for things he’s been talking about.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think either of the hits (or one push and one punch) that they talk about is suspension-worthy. I think Jones may be trying to play the role of the Good Cop in the shoutfest. Zucharello’s push was ill-advised, but not grotesque.

At some point, players will figure out what’s OK.

KatieStrangESPN Katie Strang
Rangers Zuccarello fined $2,500 for hit — ESPN New York — espn.go.com/blog/new-york/…
17 minutes ago