Don Cherry, a longtime hockey commentator in Canada, has been fired by Sportsnet after a recent on-air rant in which he implied that immigrants don't respect Remembrance Day in Canada while referring to those in racially diverse areas as "you people."
"I live in Mississauga," Cherry said during his "Coach's Corner" segment this weekend. "Nobody wears, very few people, wear a poppy. Downtown Toronto, forget it. Downtown Toronto nobody wears a poppy … Now you go to the small cities and you know, the rows on rows. You people love — that come here — you love our way of life. You love our milk and honey. At least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada. These guys paid the biggest price."
Cherry's comments were condemned by the NHL for being "offensive," and on Monday he has been fired by the station — ironically, perhaps, on Remembrance Day.
It was hardly the first controversy for Cherry, 85, who has had numerous run-ins during three-plus decades of Coach's Corner — most recently in 2018 coming under fire for denying climate change.
A lot of fans had already moved on from Cherry, and now Sportsnet has as well. Perhaps Brian Burke, who is being pushed as a successor, will take over the role?
