Don Cherry sends a message to all his fans on Saturday morning.

Every hockey fan will be glued to their television on Saturday night to see how exactly both Rodgers and Sportsnet will play off the broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada without the presence of legendary National Hockey League analyst Don Cherry. Cherry of course was fired this week after he made controversial comments regarding Canadian immigrants, specifically as it pertains to their support of the Remembrance Day tradition of purchasing and wearing a poppy on one's clothing. 

"You people you 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," Cherry said during the controversial segment. "These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price."

Regardless of how you feel about the man himself it seems highly unlikely that Hockey Night in Canada will simply be able to fill the hole left by Cherry on Coach's Corner and I for one would be shocked if they simply attempted to insert another personality into the role previously occupied by Cherry himself. I think it is far more likely that the entire segment of Coach's Corner will be permanently retired and that the broadcast will instead feature an entirely new segment, although that segment could in theory continue to feature Cherry's co-host Ron MacLean. MacLean made it clear this week that he would be remaining on Saturday nights in spite of the fact that his long time friend and co-host was fired this week, although it remains to be seen in what capacity MacLean will appear if any this evening.

As for Don Cherry himself it seems as though no one really knows what will come next for the NHL's most infamous curmudgeon, however Cherry did say that he would be back in some form or another before very long. What we do know is that Don Cherry has been very appreciative of all the nice messages he has received from fans who have supported him through this ordeal, and on Saturday Cherry took to social media to thank those fans. For the sake of preserving the context of his message here it is unedited and in full:

Again, I want to thank everyone who has called emailed, dropped by the house this past week. It will take weeks to personally get back to everyone, so I am again, thanking you all now. God Bless you all for your support, Donald S Cherry.

No doubt like many of us, Cherry will be glued to his television set this evening to see what will come next for Hockey Night in Canada.