With his trademark thumbs up, his high-collared shirts and loud suits, Don Cherry spoke to Canadians every Saturday, for almost four decades.He loved the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. Doug Gilmour and Bobby Orr. Hard-hitting hockey and fights. He offered tips to kids. He embraced the police. He loved dogs. He honoured the armed services.But the 85-year-old had an edge to him, a side deemed xenophobic. And he crossed a line Saturday, and lost his pulpit from which he preached his brand of Canadian nationalism.Sportsnet pulled the plug on Coach’s Corner — a staple of the first intermission Hockey Night in Canada — following a backlash to Cherry’s inflammatory comments he made Saturday. He said, in what could now be known as his “you people” rant, that he was seeing fewer people wearing poppies to honour fallen Canadian soldiers, singling out those he believes are immigrants in Toronto and Mississauga.“Following further discussions with Don Cherry after Saturday night’s broadcast, it has been decided it is the right time for him to immediately step down,” Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley said in a statement Monday afternoon.“During the broadcast, he made divisive remarks that do not represent our values or what we stand for.”Cherry said he could still be on Coach’s Corner, but refused to apologize.“It’s ironic I got fired on Remembrance Day, which makes it kind of strange,” Cherry told the Star on Monday night.“I could have stayed if I had wiped the floor with myself, and returned as a tamed person. I don’t feel that the people who watch Coach’s Corner deserve something like that. I would rather go out on my shield. I guess I am going out on my shield.“Kind of tough not having a job halfway through the season, that’s the way it is. I don’t regret a thing. I said what I said, I meant what I said and I believe everybody in this co ...
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