In between the 2nd and 3rd period last night of the Stanley Cup Finals, the infamous Don Cherry sounded off on fighting in the NHL. But that wasn't what got everyone's attention. It was the NHL is making a mistake by catering to American fans by trying to curtail aggressive play.
Cherry said that he heard the NHL was trying to cater to American fans by eliminating fighting. He then said that they were making a "big mistake" by doing this and cited Nascar/crashes, football/fill the quarterback, and the success of the Ultimate Fighting.For the record, after listening to this, I want more of Don Cherry. And not just because of his suits. He seems to have a better grasp of the fans interests than Gary Bettman and isn't afraid to say anything.
Cherry brought a clipping from a Buffalo newspaper that advertised the Ottawa/Buffalo series. The clipping highlighted the "bad blood" between the two teams and featured pictures of Ray Emery and Andrew Peters during the Sabres/Sens brawl earlier this year. Now if you remember back, the Atlanta Thrashers actually did something quite similar, adding a 30 second montage to their website of the Capitals/Thrashers brawl from early in the season... this to sell tickets for the next Atlanta home game.
It'll be interesting to see if Cherry is invited back for Game 5. He even said that "I'll probably get in trouble for this" when commenting that he didn't think Chris Pronger should have been suspended. Hull, again, concured with Cherry's assessment. So we will see if Cherry makes his way back. If it is up to NBC, there is no doubt in my mind he will get to chime in on another game. If the NHL is able to pull the plug on Cherry, I'm sure their reaching for the cord as we speak.
George Richards thinks Cherry is what the NHL on NBC needs ...
Truth is, more Cherry might mean better ratings. Good to see someone speaking his mind on American sports television and not worrying about stepping on any toes. Thought Cherry, Brett Hull and Bill Clement were a good mix -- and I loved Cherry rapping on Hull's game-winning goal against Buffalo that won Dallas the '99 Cup (sorry Joe and Eddie. It was a good line.)Do you agree with Don Cherry's rant? Does the NHL, or perhaps more appropriately NBC, need to loosen up and allow for more fighting?
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