Steve Simmonds calls for Don Cherry to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Simmonds wants to see Cherry go in.

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Published 4 years ago
Steve Simmonds calls for Don Cherry to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

The first Hockey Night in Canada broadcast without Don Cherry came and went on Saturday night and I believe that even Cherry's staunchest of critics would be hard pressed to argue that it simply was not the same without him on the broadcast. Sure former Coach's Corner co host Ron MacLean did his best attempt to smooth things over in the opening segment between the first intermission, but the response to that segment from MacLean seemed to be largely negative. 

In spite of that however it now seems that Sportsnet, Rogers, the CBC and all of those affiliated with Hockey Night in Canada have decided that the show will go on without the legendary National Hockey League analyst and that now leaves the question of what will come next for Don Cherry? Although many have wondered whether or not another network could potentially pick him up and put him on the air nothing of the sort has materialized yet for Cherry, at least not officially, but there are now calls for Cherry to be enshrined alongside the sport of hockey's greatest legends in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

On Monday morning in an article published for the Toronto Sun, controversial Toronto sports reporter Steve Simmonds called for Cherry to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as either a builder or as a member of the media wing of the Hall of Fame by being recognized with the Foster Hewitt Award. It was certainly an interesting take given that Simmonds had been critical of the comments that eventually led to Cherry being removed from the Hockey Night broadcast, but in spite of that Simmonds argued that Cherry had earned the right to go into the Hall in either category. 

From Simmonds:

How do you deny Cherry as a builder, even if you don’t like his words and his ways? You can’t deny his success, the way the Hall couldn’t deny Fred Shero, even if the modern voters objected to the roughhouse ways of his Philadelphia Flyers teams.

Cherry has been on television for almost 38 years, in the same spot, at the same time, on the biggest show in the sport. Saturday night on Coach’s Corner on Hockey Night In Canada.

Cherry didn’t just survive, he thrived. Excluding him as a builder would be ignoring hockey history.

Simmonds also made the case that Cherry should be in the Hall as a recipient of the Foster Hewitt Award, although he also made the case that a few other longtime NHL broadcasters should also be in there alongside him.

Again from Simmonds:

It’s no different for the Foster Hewitt Award, which too often centres out play-by-play men while ignoring others who broadcast the game. Cherry should win this, and so should Ron MacLean, and Dave Hodge (long overdue) and James Duthie, none of whom are known for play-by-play work.

All of them deserving of Hall of Fame recognition.

Just as Cherry is.

Simmonds is himself no stranger to controversy and no doubt this take will also cause a good bit of heated debate on both sides of the argument. What do you think? Should Don Cherry be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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