Carolina Hurricanes release a new t-shirt to mock Don Cherry.

The Carolina Hurricanes marketing department has certainly stepped up their game in a major way this season and as it turns out the Stanley Cup Playoffs are absolutely no exception.

As all of you will likely know by now there has been quite the rivalry brewing between the Hurricanes organization and veteran National Hockey League analyst Don Cherry. Cherry has harshly criticized the Hurricanes for their post game celebrations this season and has done so repeatedly in spite of the fact that their on ice antics appear to have re-energized their fan base considerably. In fact Cherry went so far earlier this season as to call the Hurricanes a "Bunch of Jerks" a slogan that the Hurricanes marketing team have now incorporated. 

You only need to look at the clothing or the signs sported at the games by Hurricanes fans to see just how badly Don Cherry's criticism of the team has backfired on him, and if anything it only further served to encourage the behavior that Cherry so clearly dislikes. The Bunch of Jerks phenomenon has really, really, caught on in Carolina and now it appears that Cherry has added to that popularity. 

Over the weekend during his regular Coach's Corner segment Cherry pointed to the fact that the Hurricanes are no longer using their traditional post game antics in the playoffs as evidence of the fact that he was right and, according to Cherry, even the Hurricanes knew he was right. For what it is worth he did seem to genuinely enjoy the "Bunch of Jerks" movement that was spawned as a result of his original criticism of the team, but that has not changed his opinion one bit. 

Cherry's co host Ron MacLean asked "Hard not to embrace it thought isn't it?" To which Cherry only replied with a stern "I don't embrace nothin."

Maclean was pretty amused by the whole thing, but Cherry seemed more annoyed than anything else and made sure to throw the Hurricanes fan base under the bus by describing them as "front running fans."

Well the Hurricanes have responded with a brand new line of t-shirts and, judging by the overwhelming fan response, it looks like they have gotten the best of Don Cherry once again.

[pub]