Timeline

Breakdown

1 CE

In my book there are many stories told about multiple different events and people that took place in Don Cherry's life. I tried to pick the 5 stories that I found the most interesting for this timeline.

First Year Coach's Corner

2

One of the very first story Cherry tells is about a producer that was telling him he's pronouncing players names wrong. This producer decided to tell him the morning of a game in the Stanley Cup Finals back in 1983. Cherry said it bothered him at first and he called his friend Gerry Patterson to talk about it, who calls another friend Ralph Mellanby. Ralph told him to not worry about the pronunciation because it was half his charm, Cherry goes on to say the book is written as if he were talking.

Coach's Corner quote

3

"Well you should've heard me pronounce the names that day! I tell ya, ya couldn't recognize anybody. So this is the book and this is the way it's going to be. I'm going to mispronounce names and use my English. Any other way and it wouldn't be me."

Gretzky's hit

4

This story begins with Don Cherry explaining how Gretzky just seemed to never get hit during games. People who didn't know hockey would come up and talk to Cherry saying there must've been a rule to not him. He goes on to talk about one game where Gretzky got hit hard by Billy McCreary. He goes on to explain after McCreary got off for his shift he never came back. His coach knew he'd get destroyed by the enforcers on Gretzky's team, and that was McCreary's last shift in the NHL.

Gretzky's hit quote

5

"The real story was, as all the hockey people know, that the No-Hit Rule-- all it was-- was Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley"

Salary

6

In this story Cherry talks about someone who asked him if he resents the players getting payed ridiculous salaries today. How back then it was a privilege to play in the NHL, never mind $20 million or $50 million contracts. The pay was brutal back then and if anyone complained you were gone. He goes back and says he doesn't resent the pay in todays game at all. Players like Gordie Howe got stiffed a few years when he was playing back in the day until he spoke up because of Bobby Baun.

Blue

7

If theres one thing Don Cherry likes more than hockey it would have to be his dog Blue. She was a white bull terrier he got between 1974-1979 and unfortunately passed away in 1989. In this story Don Cherry is talking about how one time he saw her attitude towards other dogs. Cherry's neighbours on Wolfe Island had golden retrievers and he explains how when he brought Blue over there was a stare down between the dogs and Blue got attacked and then defended herself.

Salary Quote

7

"Gordie was makin' peanuts when he signed for Jack Adams in Detroit. His signin' bonus was a team jacket! Bobby Baun, who was traded from Detroit to Toronto, was having breakfast one day with Gordie. Bobby said to Gordie, "Wake up I'm making what I'm making and you're making what you're making? C'mon Smarten up". He marched up to see Jack Adams and got paid what he was worth."

Blue quote

8

"She just let it up and just kept on walking as if it was nothing, as soon as we got around the corner, I picked her up and I said, "you're the greatest thing that ever walked on any number of feet" It easy to tell by this quote how much the dog meant to Cherry and the positive impact she had in his life.

Playoff Run

9

This story Cherry talks about flawless playoff run he makes with the Vancouver Canucks before they were an NHL team. He had just won the calder cup in Rochester and got moved with bunch of guys to Vancouver. The whole time cherry is determined with his team to win games and get back home. A guy named Joe tell Cherry he needs to straighten out the team because they think they won already father taking a 3-0 series lead in the finals. Cherry gives a small speech and they went on to win.

Playoff Run quote

10

"So I had to go in and act like big hero. I threw down a bottle. I remember it was a bottle of 7up. I said, "We gotta win another game. We haven't won anything yet," and all that BS. So anyhow, we did win the championship and never lost a game. Two years later the Canucks went into the NHL.