Don Cherry is the Howard Cosell of Canada. He is well worth taking the time tonight to watch as he joins the NBC coverage.
It will be his U.S. television debut during the second intermission of NBC’s coverage of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Anaheim Ducks and the Ottawa Senators. NBC is broadcasting Games 3-7 of the Final in primetime (see complete schedule below), presented in high definition. Mike Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst) and Pierre McGuire (inside-the-glass analyst) call the action from Ottawa with the Senators trailing the Ducks, 2-1.– always has and always will,” said Hull. “Ray Emery has played terrific for Ottawa but Anaheim has the huge edge in [Jean-Sebastien] Giguere.”
The NHL on NBC studio show will originate from the game sites and feature analysis from the NHL on NBC studio team of Bill Clement (host), Ray Ferraro (analyst) and the outspoken Brett Hull (analyst), the NHL’s third all-time leading goal scorer and a two-time Stanley Cup winner. The St. Petersburg Times called Hull and Ferraro “by far the two most refreshing and honest voices in television sports.” The pre-game show will be simulcast on NBCSports.com and fans can return to NBCSports.com for a complete post-game report.
DON CHERRY:
Cherry has been an institution in Canada for more than 25 years since joining CBC’s hockey coverage in 1980 as a studio analyst. He is best known for his outspoken and often outrageous commentary on Hockey Night in Canada’s legendary “Coach’s Corner,” alongside studio host Ron McLean. Prior to his broadcasting career, Cherry coached the Boston Bruins to consecutive berths in the Stanley Cup Final (1977, 78) before ending his career behind the bench with the Colorado Rockies. In a poll conducted by the CBC in 2004, Cherry was voted the seventh greatest Canadian, ahead of Alexander Graham Bell and Wayne Gretzky.
CHERRY ON BROADCASTING IN U.S.:
“A lot of people have written that what I say up here I would never get away with it down in the States.
“I’ll just go on and do what I have to do. In the States they wanted me to go on one time in Pittsburgh. Jaromir Jagr, it was when he had long hair and he was with Mario Lemieux and I said, ‘there’s Mario and his daughter.’ It didn’t go over too good. That was my last time in the States.”
HULL AND CHERRY ON WORKING TOGETHER:
CHERRY: “Better get some plaids.”
HULL: “I’m going to look better than my dad, I’ll tell you that. It’s going to be an honor to be on with Don. I’ve been a big fan for a long time. Any advice I can get from him, because he’s been doing this for a long time. You don’t become an icon just because you dress nice. He’s very talented at what he does.”
CHERRY: “Listen, Brett, what I’ve been reading about you, you don’t need any advice. You’re doing all right. You have more hair than your dad anyhow.”
HULLON CHERRY BROADCASTING IN THE U.S.:
“He tells it like it is. If they did it on a regular basis, he would be just as popular down here as he is up there. Part of the thing that’s missing, not with just hockey, but in all coverage in the American sports world, is some personality. I think that’s why you see a guy like Terry Bradshaw, as popular as he is. He’s not just Mr. PC, going through ‘that was a nice catch and throw.'”
HULL PREDICTS ANAHEIM WILL WIN THE CUP BASED ON GOALTENDING:
“From Ken Dryden to Bernie Parent to Patrick Roy to Marty Brodeur, the Stanley Cup Final always comes to down to goaltending
CHERRY/HULL ON THE MARK WITH ANAHEIM:
Prior to the start of the playoffs on an NBC media call, both outspoken analysts correctly prognosticated Anaheim to reach the Final, while Cherry selected Ottawa as well. There’s no secret to which team Cherry will be pulling for as he said: “I’ve got to root for all the Canadian teams. For sure I’ve got to cheer for them.”
