Don Cherry steps away from another job, Bobby Orr follows him in solidarity

Fans will be disappointed to know that Don Cherry won’t be acting as a coach this season… 

According to Joe Warmington of the Sun, Grapes will not not coach in this year’s CHL/NHL Prospects game on Jan. 16 in Hamilton, which will be aired on Sportsnet. Unlike his firing from Hockey Night in Canada however, this was Cherry’s decision. 

“It was a tough call to make to (CHL President) David Branch to tell him I decided it would best if I stepped away,” Cherry said Tuesday. “But this game is about the kids. It’s about the hockey prospects and their futures.”

Grapes feels this is the right decision: he did not want the controversy surrounding his departure from Saturday nights to come anywhere near the hockey players of the future. 

This would have been Cherry’s 20th time coaching one of the teams of top players from the CHL for the upcoming NHL draft. Most years one team is called Team Cherry and the other Team Orr because NHL legend Bobby Orr coaches the opposing bench.

However, Orr is sticking with his friend and has decided to pull out of the event as well. 

“Bobby is my friend and said he didn’t want to be there if I wasn’t going to be there,” said Grapes.

While Sportsnet reportedly told Cherry it would be fine if he did the game, Grapes didn’t want to become a distraction. 

“I think all of the stories leading up to it, on the day of and after, would be about me and Hockey Night in Canada and I don’t want that,” said Cherry. “I want the media coverage to be on these players who have worked their butts off to be in such a prestigious game.”