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WARMINGTON: Long live Coach’s Corner -- Our special summer edition with Grapes
Joe Warmington
Published:
July 20, 2019
Updated:
July 20, 2019 9:40 PM EDT
Just as Mark Twain once said, the rumours of Don Cherry’s demise were greatly exaggerated.
In fact, 2020 will mark the 40th year of Cherry on Hockey Night in Canada.
“Forty years? No wonder they want to get me off,” joked Grapes.
Earlier this month, the question was in the air thanks to an item in award-winning sports columnist Steve Simmons’ popular Sunday column quoting sources that cost-cutting Rogers were undecided about bringing the coach back.
The news went viral. Cherry was not pleased.
“I was hurt,” Cherry told the Sun in an interview. “It takes a lot to hurt me now.”
That it was Simmons who reported it was like salt being rubbed in the wound.
“Steve Simmons, I really couldn’t believe it,” Cherry recalled. “He was one of the few guys I counted as a friend. And I knew him when he was 19. But Ralph Mellanby told me you have no friends in this business.”
Even though when you read it, Simmons was making the point Rogers should not go down such a road, Cherry said: “I didn’t take it that way and I don’t think anybody else did.”
Whatever it was, Grapes said, there was no truth to it.
“The ironic thing is the three bosses phoned me and said we can hardly wait until next year,” said Cherry. “If you notice on Coach’s corner — it’s the only thing on at the end of the first. There is nothing else.”
But could this be his last year?
“No, no,” said Grapes.
He said just look at “the trouble we had with just the hint of it being my last year.”
Don Cherry sits down with Joe Warmington for a summer coach’s corner on Tuesday, July 16, 2019. (Stan Behal/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network)
Although he first appeared as an analyst for the 1980 NHL playoffs, this coming season will be his 39th doing Coach’s Corner — 33 of which have been with partner Ron MacLean.
When we were talking about Cherry’s longevity, we could not think of any TV show in Canada that has been on for almost four decades straight.
“I don’t think in American TV either,” said Cherry.
In Great Britain there’s “Coronation Street” but “they change (cast members) all the time. My wife watches it.”
There’s only one coach who has ever appeared on Coach’s Corner.
“Television people know,” he said of when it’s time to go. “You can’t be phony on TV. They can tell in a minute.”
In his case, it likely won’t be producers or media people deciding when that time comes for Cherry.
“The minute it is not fun for me anymore is when I will retire,” he said.
He is still having fun.
“It’s really good now,” he said of his relationship with producers, adding all three senior people calling him “made me feel good. It really did.”
That said, Cherry does acknowledge one can’t do TV forever.
“You have to realize in the business I am in. Once you are done, you are done. Two years from now they might say ‘didn’t you used to be Don Cherry?’”
As for Simmons sources?
“He thinks he’s right. Probably he was right. I mean 85? I remember when I was young if someone was 85 I thought the guy should be dead.”
In a special summer Coach’s Corner with the Sun, Don Cherry covers everything from the Stanley Cup finals to President Donald Trump!
On the 2019 Finals?
“I think Peter McNabb said it best, it was big boy hockey. St. Louis won because of the kid from Richmond Hill (Jordan) Binnington. He told me on the elevator ‘we are going to win it’ and they won it. And he’s the guy who won it. Ryan O’Reilly won MVP but I think a co-star was Binnington.”
The Leafs face red-hot goaltender Jordan Binnington and the St. Louis Blues Tuesday in St. Louis. (AP)
On last year’s contract holdout William Nylander wearing Eric Lindros’s 88 in 2019-20?
“I am impressed with Nylander changing his number. At least he cares.”
When Nazem Kadri was injured against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night, William Nylander moved into his spot at centre. (Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
On this year’s contract dispute featuring Mitch Marner?
“He will be back, there’s no doubt about it. I think it’s because (Auston) Matthews got (a big contract) and he said ‘wait a minute I am the leading scorer.’ Marner thinks why shouldn’t he be paid like the leading scorer? That’s the way he feels.”
Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs scores a penalty on Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins in the second period of Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on April 11, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
On calling the Carolina Hurricanes players a “bunch of jerks” for their after game tomfoolery?
“They acted like jerks but I should have said they acted like a bunch of jerks and not were a bunch of jerks,” said Cherry. “The PR guy got on it right away. I said it on the Saturday and by Sunday they had T-shirts made. But deep in their hearts they knew they shouldn’t be doing this. I have to laugh when people say it’s just young men expressing themselves. We are hockey. We don’t do that stuff. We get dressed up. We are not like basketball, football or baseball.”
Carolina Hurricanes’ Justin Williams and Micheal Ferland drag Jordan Martinook from the ice following the team’s celebration following an NHL game in Raleigh, N.C., Friday, March 1, 2019. Gerry Broome / AP
Any regrets not taking Boston Bruins call-up goaltender Dave Reece out of the net in 1976 on the night Darryl Sittler set the record with 10 points?
“None. Gerry Cheevers was just back from the WHA and there was no way he was going in.”
Cherry said Reece never forgave him: “He never played again. And he had a pretty good record. He could never understand how I left him in there? Sometimes you have to be cruel in this business.”
Goaltender Gerry Cheevers won Stanley Cups with Boston in 1970 and 1972. (NHLI via Getty Images)
Who is your favourite player in the NHL right now?
“Connor McDavid. I always tell the kids the player who scores goals drives a better car.”
Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid (97) celebrates a goal against the Anaheim Ducks during second period NHL action in Edmonton, Alta., on March 25, 2018. Jason Franson / CP
The Greatest player of all time?
“I have seen all of the greats and no one compares to Bobby Orr. No one. There were guys who could score more but they couldn’t do it all like he could.”
Cherry’s biggest regret in hockey?
“Seeing Bobby Orr leave the Boston Bruins to play for the Chicago Blackhawks for just 26 games before retiring because of a knee injury. He should never have left Boston. Never. I have never said that before but it wasn’t handled right. Orr would have played for a couple of more years had he stayed. He could still play. If you look at Chicago he still got the points (27 in 26 games). But he wasn’t Bobby Orr. He had 11 knee operations.”
Los Angeles Kings’ goalie Rogatien Vachon drop his stick but holds on to the puck as Boston Bruins’ Bobby Orr (4) tries to score in the second period at the Boston Gardens, Jan. 13, 1972. (CP FILES)
Are you upset NBA playoff MVP Kawhi Leonard left the Raptors?
“No. He wanted to go home to his mother. And I don’t blame him at all. I had to laugh they were thinking he was staying here. There was no way he was staying here. This guy came in to win the championship and he won a championship.”
Did the hockey coach get caught up in Raptors fever?
“I watched a little bit of it — all you have to watch is the last three minutes and you know the whole game. You have to give it to (team president) Masai Ujiri. I don’t know much about basketball but I know one thing, he had a lot of guts to get rid of coach of the year and trade away a popular player. It worked.”
Kawhi Leonard watches as his game-winning ball goes in to clinch the series in Game 7 as the Toronto Raptors defeat the Philadelphia 76ers in Toronto, Ont. on Sunday May 13, 2019. Stan Behal/Toronto Sun/Postmedia
What does Grapes think of NHL expansion to Seattle?
“I played in Seattle and it’s a good hockey town but I still think we should be in Quebec. I think of the rivalry between the Nordiques and Montreal Canadiens and there was no rivalry in the world like that.”
Who should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame?
“Pat Verbeek and his 522 goals and Ricky Middleton and his almost 500 goals are the two who should be in.”
What about Paul Henderson?
“It should be automatic. It is ridiculous he’s not in. They put (Vladislav) Tretiak in who choked in the last four games of the (1972 Canada-Soviet Union Summit Series). All he had to do was win one game in four at home. Henderson scored seven goals and he doesn’t get in. To put him in now (when it is so long overdue) is the same as putting Pat Burns in after he was dead. Did his coaching improve after he was dead?”
Legendary Team Canada 1972 Summit Series hero Paul Henderson poses with a print of “The Goal” at his Mississauga home on May 27, 2010. The jersey Henderson scored the 6th and winning goal against the Soviet netminder Vladislav Tretiak on Sept. 28 1972 at the Luzhniki Arena. The final score was Canada 6, USSR 5. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)
How about Don Cherry for the Hall of Fame?
“I’m like Dale Hunter. I’m not their type.”
What about being snubbed for the Order of Canada?
“I will never ever get the Order of Canada, Hockey Hall of Fame or any of that stuff. But the policemen like me, the soldiers like me and the firemen like me and that’s very important to me. Very important.”
On Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk?
“He is so easy to dislike. I remember when it all started — they had a scrum down by the glass and he said if the people don’t come out, how can I keep the franchise here? Makes sense to me. I feel sorry for Eugene. He is losing money and is hated.”
Do you ever see Ron MacLean in the summer?
“Never. I will see him the first Coach’s Corner. He travels in different circles than I do. And we don’t live far apart. He lives in the rich part. He’s a wine guy and I am beer guy. But there is nobody better than Ron. He’s the best. I never tell him that. I am always giving him a hard time. He has a different philosophy in life than I have. He’s pretty left-wing.”
Don Cherry and Ron MacLean in 2017. (Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network) CRAIG ROBERTSON/TORONTO SUN
Do you worry about criticism for sticking up for right-wing politicians?
“No. I like (President) Donald Trump and I make no bones about that. When the economy is the highest it’s ever been, and unemployment best ever, he must be doing something right.
As for Premier Doug Ford?
“He’s trying to do the same thing here for the economy Trump has for the United States. Doug Ford is terrific. He can do the job if they let him do the job.”
jwarmington@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...corner-our-special-summer-edition-with-grapes
Joe Warmington
Published:
July 20, 2019
Updated:
July 20, 2019 9:40 PM EDT
Just as Mark Twain once said, the rumours of Don Cherry’s demise were greatly exaggerated.
In fact, 2020 will mark the 40th year of Cherry on Hockey Night in Canada.
“Forty years? No wonder they want to get me off,” joked Grapes.
Earlier this month, the question was in the air thanks to an item in award-winning sports columnist Steve Simmons’ popular Sunday column quoting sources that cost-cutting Rogers were undecided about bringing the coach back.
The news went viral. Cherry was not pleased.
“I was hurt,” Cherry told the Sun in an interview. “It takes a lot to hurt me now.”
That it was Simmons who reported it was like salt being rubbed in the wound.
“Steve Simmons, I really couldn’t believe it,” Cherry recalled. “He was one of the few guys I counted as a friend. And I knew him when he was 19. But Ralph Mellanby told me you have no friends in this business.”
Even though when you read it, Simmons was making the point Rogers should not go down such a road, Cherry said: “I didn’t take it that way and I don’t think anybody else did.”
Whatever it was, Grapes said, there was no truth to it.
“The ironic thing is the three bosses phoned me and said we can hardly wait until next year,” said Cherry. “If you notice on Coach’s corner — it’s the only thing on at the end of the first. There is nothing else.”
But could this be his last year?
“No, no,” said Grapes.
He said just look at “the trouble we had with just the hint of it being my last year.”
Don Cherry sits down with Joe Warmington for a summer coach’s corner on Tuesday, July 16, 2019. (Stan Behal/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network)
Although he first appeared as an analyst for the 1980 NHL playoffs, this coming season will be his 39th doing Coach’s Corner — 33 of which have been with partner Ron MacLean.
When we were talking about Cherry’s longevity, we could not think of any TV show in Canada that has been on for almost four decades straight.
“I don’t think in American TV either,” said Cherry.
In Great Britain there’s “Coronation Street” but “they change (cast members) all the time. My wife watches it.”
There’s only one coach who has ever appeared on Coach’s Corner.
“Television people know,” he said of when it’s time to go. “You can’t be phony on TV. They can tell in a minute.”
In his case, it likely won’t be producers or media people deciding when that time comes for Cherry.
“The minute it is not fun for me anymore is when I will retire,” he said.
He is still having fun.
“It’s really good now,” he said of his relationship with producers, adding all three senior people calling him “made me feel good. It really did.”
That said, Cherry does acknowledge one can’t do TV forever.
“You have to realize in the business I am in. Once you are done, you are done. Two years from now they might say ‘didn’t you used to be Don Cherry?’”
As for Simmons sources?
“He thinks he’s right. Probably he was right. I mean 85? I remember when I was young if someone was 85 I thought the guy should be dead.”
In a special summer Coach’s Corner with the Sun, Don Cherry covers everything from the Stanley Cup finals to President Donald Trump!
On the 2019 Finals?
“I think Peter McNabb said it best, it was big boy hockey. St. Louis won because of the kid from Richmond Hill (Jordan) Binnington. He told me on the elevator ‘we are going to win it’ and they won it. And he’s the guy who won it. Ryan O’Reilly won MVP but I think a co-star was Binnington.”
The Leafs face red-hot goaltender Jordan Binnington and the St. Louis Blues Tuesday in St. Louis. (AP)
On last year’s contract holdout William Nylander wearing Eric Lindros’s 88 in 2019-20?
“I am impressed with Nylander changing his number. At least he cares.”
When Nazem Kadri was injured against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night, William Nylander moved into his spot at centre. (Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
On this year’s contract dispute featuring Mitch Marner?
“He will be back, there’s no doubt about it. I think it’s because (Auston) Matthews got (a big contract) and he said ‘wait a minute I am the leading scorer.’ Marner thinks why shouldn’t he be paid like the leading scorer? That’s the way he feels.”
Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs scores a penalty on Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins in the second period of Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on April 11, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
On calling the Carolina Hurricanes players a “bunch of jerks” for their after game tomfoolery?
“They acted like jerks but I should have said they acted like a bunch of jerks and not were a bunch of jerks,” said Cherry. “The PR guy got on it right away. I said it on the Saturday and by Sunday they had T-shirts made. But deep in their hearts they knew they shouldn’t be doing this. I have to laugh when people say it’s just young men expressing themselves. We are hockey. We don’t do that stuff. We get dressed up. We are not like basketball, football or baseball.”
Carolina Hurricanes’ Justin Williams and Micheal Ferland drag Jordan Martinook from the ice following the team’s celebration following an NHL game in Raleigh, N.C., Friday, March 1, 2019. Gerry Broome / AP
Any regrets not taking Boston Bruins call-up goaltender Dave Reece out of the net in 1976 on the night Darryl Sittler set the record with 10 points?
“None. Gerry Cheevers was just back from the WHA and there was no way he was going in.”
Cherry said Reece never forgave him: “He never played again. And he had a pretty good record. He could never understand how I left him in there? Sometimes you have to be cruel in this business.”
Goaltender Gerry Cheevers won Stanley Cups with Boston in 1970 and 1972. (NHLI via Getty Images)
Who is your favourite player in the NHL right now?
“Connor McDavid. I always tell the kids the player who scores goals drives a better car.”
Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid (97) celebrates a goal against the Anaheim Ducks during second period NHL action in Edmonton, Alta., on March 25, 2018. Jason Franson / CP
The Greatest player of all time?
“I have seen all of the greats and no one compares to Bobby Orr. No one. There were guys who could score more but they couldn’t do it all like he could.”
Cherry’s biggest regret in hockey?
“Seeing Bobby Orr leave the Boston Bruins to play for the Chicago Blackhawks for just 26 games before retiring because of a knee injury. He should never have left Boston. Never. I have never said that before but it wasn’t handled right. Orr would have played for a couple of more years had he stayed. He could still play. If you look at Chicago he still got the points (27 in 26 games). But he wasn’t Bobby Orr. He had 11 knee operations.”
Los Angeles Kings’ goalie Rogatien Vachon drop his stick but holds on to the puck as Boston Bruins’ Bobby Orr (4) tries to score in the second period at the Boston Gardens, Jan. 13, 1972. (CP FILES)
Are you upset NBA playoff MVP Kawhi Leonard left the Raptors?
“No. He wanted to go home to his mother. And I don’t blame him at all. I had to laugh they were thinking he was staying here. There was no way he was staying here. This guy came in to win the championship and he won a championship.”
Did the hockey coach get caught up in Raptors fever?
“I watched a little bit of it — all you have to watch is the last three minutes and you know the whole game. You have to give it to (team president) Masai Ujiri. I don’t know much about basketball but I know one thing, he had a lot of guts to get rid of coach of the year and trade away a popular player. It worked.”
Kawhi Leonard watches as his game-winning ball goes in to clinch the series in Game 7 as the Toronto Raptors defeat the Philadelphia 76ers in Toronto, Ont. on Sunday May 13, 2019. Stan Behal/Toronto Sun/Postmedia
What does Grapes think of NHL expansion to Seattle?
“I played in Seattle and it’s a good hockey town but I still think we should be in Quebec. I think of the rivalry between the Nordiques and Montreal Canadiens and there was no rivalry in the world like that.”
Who should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame?
“Pat Verbeek and his 522 goals and Ricky Middleton and his almost 500 goals are the two who should be in.”
What about Paul Henderson?
“It should be automatic. It is ridiculous he’s not in. They put (Vladislav) Tretiak in who choked in the last four games of the (1972 Canada-Soviet Union Summit Series). All he had to do was win one game in four at home. Henderson scored seven goals and he doesn’t get in. To put him in now (when it is so long overdue) is the same as putting Pat Burns in after he was dead. Did his coaching improve after he was dead?”
Legendary Team Canada 1972 Summit Series hero Paul Henderson poses with a print of “The Goal” at his Mississauga home on May 27, 2010. The jersey Henderson scored the 6th and winning goal against the Soviet netminder Vladislav Tretiak on Sept. 28 1972 at the Luzhniki Arena. The final score was Canada 6, USSR 5. Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)
How about Don Cherry for the Hall of Fame?
“I’m like Dale Hunter. I’m not their type.”
What about being snubbed for the Order of Canada?
“I will never ever get the Order of Canada, Hockey Hall of Fame or any of that stuff. But the policemen like me, the soldiers like me and the firemen like me and that’s very important to me. Very important.”
On Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk?
“He is so easy to dislike. I remember when it all started — they had a scrum down by the glass and he said if the people don’t come out, how can I keep the franchise here? Makes sense to me. I feel sorry for Eugene. He is losing money and is hated.”
Do you ever see Ron MacLean in the summer?
“Never. I will see him the first Coach’s Corner. He travels in different circles than I do. And we don’t live far apart. He lives in the rich part. He’s a wine guy and I am beer guy. But there is nobody better than Ron. He’s the best. I never tell him that. I am always giving him a hard time. He has a different philosophy in life than I have. He’s pretty left-wing.”
Don Cherry and Ron MacLean in 2017. (Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network) CRAIG ROBERTSON/TORONTO SUN
Do you worry about criticism for sticking up for right-wing politicians?
“No. I like (President) Donald Trump and I make no bones about that. When the economy is the highest it’s ever been, and unemployment best ever, he must be doing something right.
As for Premier Doug Ford?
“He’s trying to do the same thing here for the economy Trump has for the United States. Doug Ford is terrific. He can do the job if they let him do the job.”
jwarmington@postmedia.com
WARMINGTON: Don Cherry, Brian Williams signing off Grapeline radio show
Joe Warmington
Published:
August 23, 2019
Updated:
August 23, 2019 7:50 AM EDT
Don Cherry and Ron MacLean in 2017CRAIG ROBERTSON / Toronto Sun
It feels like Don Cherry and Brian Williams have been on the radio doing Grapeline forever.
And they would go on forever too.
“Well it’s 35 years to be exact,” said Don Cherry Thursday.
Some 4,200 shows and at its peak was on 100 stations coast to coast.
Nothing lasts forever.
The Toronto Sun has learned there won’t be a 36th year of the long-running radio show — a staple for many radio stations across Canada since 1984.
“Myself, Brian Williams and producer Prior Smith made the decision this morning,” said the 85-year-old Cherry.
“It was a tough one, I will tell you.”
Even though there is demand for them to come back, they agreed on something.
“It’s time,” said Cherry.
The decision to end the radio run will not affect Cherry coming back for Coach’s Corner.
While the radio gig and Rock’em ‘Sock’em videos are retired, he isn’t and is coming back on TV.
“I am good to go and always have been,” said Cherry.
“I am looking forward to the 2019-2020 NHL season starting.”
WARMINGTON: Long live Coach’s Corner — Our special summer edition with Grapes
WARMINGTON: Don Cherry’s Rock’em Sock’em Hockey 30 will be the last
COACH’S CORNER SPECIAL: Is Cherry back? He answers!
‘DON’T THINK IT’S RIGHT’: Don Cherry weighs in on Stanley Cup name removals
But he admits he will miss doing Grapeline.
“I had a great connection with the mechanics to the office worker in rush hour,” he said.
“It was also good to be able to deal with things I didn’t get to talk about on Hockey Night In Canada.”
Recording at the Fan 590 studio was another thing for Don.
“Well, I have had a long friendship with both Prior Smith and Brian Williams so far that reason I am sad for sure,” he said.
A lot of people think because of their legendary on-air donnybrook over the Canada-Russia World Junior brawl that Cherry and Williams are not close.
“It’s not true at all. We are very close. You don’t last 35-years together without being good friends and we are,” said Cherry.
“I mean, I have known Brian for 40 years and he’s a hell of a broadcaster.”
Williams was reflective Thursday as well — saying the reason the show lasted as long as it did was due to Cherry’s special gifts.
“Don has that unique and rare ability to tell stories and bring both the past and present to life in an interesting and often humorous manner that is truly special.
I remember the 2 hour ‘Live’ coast-to-coast phone show we did for years. One night we had a call from a farmer out in the fields on his tractor in Southern Manitoba, and another came from a family on the Alaska Highway. Young, old, male and female all so happy to speak with Don.”
Williams said they have had a ball for the past 35 years.
“You will never find a more loyal, honest and better friend than Don. If you had to to war, Don is that friend you would want standing with you,” said Williams.
“The three of us leave this show as very close personal friends.”
And to think it all started with an idea.
Grapes still remembers when agent Gerry Patterson went into the then-CFRB radio station with the idea of syndicating a national radio show, and the reaction Prior Smith had when he heard it.
“Gerry said Don would like to do a radio show and Prior told him ‘so would 18,000 other guys.’” said Don laughing, while delivering the punch line.
“Gerry said to Prior and the management there I also have a cheque for $100,000 from Bridgestone Tire, will that help?”
After a moment of silence, Cherry said Prior had the next line that they still laugh about.
“Prior said, ‘can you start Monday?’” said Cherry.
It was a labour of love for Smith.
“I’ve got 35 years worth of stories,” he said, also pointing out the amazing support they received from Rogers producer Dave Cadeau, co-ordinator Jason Rozon and production expert Elisabeth Hart.
Said Smith: “The bottom line: we came to the conclusion it would be best to leave when we were on top. The folks at Rogers felt that last winter’s run was up there with the best ever, so the time was right.”
Ironically, their last shows were about — and a tribute to — iconic play-by-play man Bob Cole’s retirement.
It’s not easy to let these legends go because they are such a big part of all of our lives.
What are we going to do this winter 7:55 a.m., 12:55 p.m. and 4:55 p.m. when Grapeline comes on?
I mean… used to come on!
jwarmington@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/don-cherry-grapevine
Joe Warmington
Published:
August 23, 2019
Updated:
August 23, 2019 7:50 AM EDT
Don Cherry and Ron MacLean in 2017CRAIG ROBERTSON / Toronto Sun
It feels like Don Cherry and Brian Williams have been on the radio doing Grapeline forever.
And they would go on forever too.
“Well it’s 35 years to be exact,” said Don Cherry Thursday.
Some 4,200 shows and at its peak was on 100 stations coast to coast.
Nothing lasts forever.
The Toronto Sun has learned there won’t be a 36th year of the long-running radio show — a staple for many radio stations across Canada since 1984.
“Myself, Brian Williams and producer Prior Smith made the decision this morning,” said the 85-year-old Cherry.
“It was a tough one, I will tell you.”
Even though there is demand for them to come back, they agreed on something.
“It’s time,” said Cherry.
The decision to end the radio run will not affect Cherry coming back for Coach’s Corner.
While the radio gig and Rock’em ‘Sock’em videos are retired, he isn’t and is coming back on TV.
“I am good to go and always have been,” said Cherry.
“I am looking forward to the 2019-2020 NHL season starting.”
WARMINGTON: Long live Coach’s Corner — Our special summer edition with Grapes
WARMINGTON: Don Cherry’s Rock’em Sock’em Hockey 30 will be the last
COACH’S CORNER SPECIAL: Is Cherry back? He answers!
‘DON’T THINK IT’S RIGHT’: Don Cherry weighs in on Stanley Cup name removals
But he admits he will miss doing Grapeline.
“I had a great connection with the mechanics to the office worker in rush hour,” he said.
“It was also good to be able to deal with things I didn’t get to talk about on Hockey Night In Canada.”
Recording at the Fan 590 studio was another thing for Don.
“Well, I have had a long friendship with both Prior Smith and Brian Williams so far that reason I am sad for sure,” he said.
A lot of people think because of their legendary on-air donnybrook over the Canada-Russia World Junior brawl that Cherry and Williams are not close.
“It’s not true at all. We are very close. You don’t last 35-years together without being good friends and we are,” said Cherry.
“I mean, I have known Brian for 40 years and he’s a hell of a broadcaster.”
Williams was reflective Thursday as well — saying the reason the show lasted as long as it did was due to Cherry’s special gifts.
“Don has that unique and rare ability to tell stories and bring both the past and present to life in an interesting and often humorous manner that is truly special.
I remember the 2 hour ‘Live’ coast-to-coast phone show we did for years. One night we had a call from a farmer out in the fields on his tractor in Southern Manitoba, and another came from a family on the Alaska Highway. Young, old, male and female all so happy to speak with Don.”
Williams said they have had a ball for the past 35 years.
“You will never find a more loyal, honest and better friend than Don. If you had to to war, Don is that friend you would want standing with you,” said Williams.
“The three of us leave this show as very close personal friends.”
And to think it all started with an idea.
Grapes still remembers when agent Gerry Patterson went into the then-CFRB radio station with the idea of syndicating a national radio show, and the reaction Prior Smith had when he heard it.
“Gerry said Don would like to do a radio show and Prior told him ‘so would 18,000 other guys.’” said Don laughing, while delivering the punch line.
“Gerry said to Prior and the management there I also have a cheque for $100,000 from Bridgestone Tire, will that help?”
After a moment of silence, Cherry said Prior had the next line that they still laugh about.
“Prior said, ‘can you start Monday?’” said Cherry.
It was a labour of love for Smith.
“I’ve got 35 years worth of stories,” he said, also pointing out the amazing support they received from Rogers producer Dave Cadeau, co-ordinator Jason Rozon and production expert Elisabeth Hart.
Said Smith: “The bottom line: we came to the conclusion it would be best to leave when we were on top. The folks at Rogers felt that last winter’s run was up there with the best ever, so the time was right.”
Ironically, their last shows were about — and a tribute to — iconic play-by-play man Bob Cole’s retirement.
It’s not easy to let these legends go because they are such a big part of all of our lives.
What are we going to do this winter 7:55 a.m., 12:55 p.m. and 4:55 p.m. when Grapeline comes on?
I mean… used to come on!
jwarmington@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/don-cherry-grapevine
TOUGHEST SAVE: Ex-NHLer aims to stop parents' killer from walking free
Chris Doucette
Published:
August 24, 2019
Updated:
August 25, 2019 10:29 AM EDT
Former NHL goaltender Don Edwards's parents, Arnold, 63, and Donna 61, who were murdered by George Harding Lovie in their Glanbrook, Ont. home on March 21, 1991. (file photo)
Don Edwards once earned a living protecting his crease and keeping pucks out of the net.
But these days the former NHL star is focused on protecting his family and keeping the man who savagely killed his parents behind bars.
On Tuesday, the 63-year-old and other family members will once again once again head to Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst to deliver victim impact statements and urge a parole board to deny an application for day parole that would allow George Harding Lovie, now 59, to live in a Sudbury halfway house.
“The emotion and the anger are still there more than 28 years later,” Edwards told the Toronto Sun recently. “The thing that bothers us most is there’s been no repentance, no ‘I’m sorry’ or anything like that.”
Last month, on July 9, a two member parole board reached a split decision regarding Lovie’s day parole application, meaning another hearing had to be held with two new parole board members.
It also means yet another trip to Gravenhurst from the U.S. for Edwards whose family has lived in hiding since the double slaying.
“It just drains you for about two weeks, both emotionally and physically,” Edwards said of preparing for and attending Lovie’s numerous parole hearings in recent years.
But Edwards, who played for the Buffalo Sabres most of his career — winning a Vezina in 1980 — before spending a few years in Calgary and playing his final NHL season in Toronto in 1986, believes it’s vital that family of victims attend parole hearings.
“You’re literally a few feet away from the guy who killed your parents,” he said. “And all we can do is make the best case we can to keep this guy incarcerated.”
“Because as soon as you take your foot off the snake, the snake is going to bite you,” he added.
Don Edwards, now 63, played goal for the Buffalo Sabres from 1976 to 1982 before spending a few seasons with the Calgary Flames and wrapping up his NHL career stopping pucks for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1986. (file photo)
Lovie dated Edwards’ sister Michele briefly but she hadn’t seen him for about 10 months before he allegedly raped her at knifepoint in her home in Glanbrook, south of Hamilton, early in 1991.
He was arrested and charged for the rape — although never prosecuted — then released on bail the next day with an order to stay away from Michele.
Days later, Lovie purchased a high-powered rifle and a 9″ hunting knife and began stalking Michele.
Then on the morning of March 21, 1991 — about five weeks after the alleged sexual assault — Michele was leaving home for work and spotted Lovie crawling out from under her porch. She ran for her life towards her parents’ home down the street.
“He fired a shot with the rifle at my sister as she ran and the bullet hit our parents’ house,” Edwards said. “That may be what woke them up.”
Love shot Donna Edwards, 61, through a doorway as Arnold Edwards, 63, fought like hell to keep the crazed killer from entering the house.
Edwards said he’s still haunted by the “graphic” 17-minute recording of the 911 call played in court at Lovie’s trial.
“You can hear my dad screaming, ‘Leave my family alone!’”
Moments later Lovie was heard yelling, “D’you like me now?” as he repeatedly stabbed Arnold.
Lovie was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 25 years to life for each count.
Edwards still vividly remembers the day he received the phone call informing him his parents had been killed, making the drive from Buffalo where he was living at the time, and entering his parents’ house with his brothers-in-law once police had released the scene.
“There were massive pools of curdling blood everywhere,” he recalls. “We were almost sick to our stomachs.”
The childhood memories of growing up with his siblings in the home, where his steelworker father and homemaker mother made plenty of sacrifices to help him pursue his hockey dream, were forever tarnished by the horrific murder scene and smell of gun powder.
Edwards later had to walk away from his job as a real estate agent and a promising broadcasting career as he sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I was a total mess,” he remembers.
Lovie has been granted escorted temporary absences to visit his dad in Peterborough in 2015 and to visit a halfway house in Sudbury in 2017.
Parole board rejects day passes for killer of ex-NHLer’s parents
Edwards and his wife, Tannis, live in fear each time the convicted killer is allowed out of prison knowing in the past he has threatened to harm their three now grown children and other family members.
“If your last name is Edwards, you have a target on your back,” he said.
The thought of Lovie one day being set free is simply terrifying.
“The police can’t guarantee our protection. And the Parole Board can’t protect us,” Edwards said. “So we’re fighting like hell to keep him locked up.”
“But we know at some point we’re going to come to a dead-end and our lives will change dramatically the day they grant him full parole,” he added.
cdoucette@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @SunDoucette
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...aims-to-stop-parents-killer-from-walking-free
Chris Doucette
Published:
August 24, 2019
Updated:
August 25, 2019 10:29 AM EDT
Former NHL goaltender Don Edwards's parents, Arnold, 63, and Donna 61, who were murdered by George Harding Lovie in their Glanbrook, Ont. home on March 21, 1991. (file photo)
Don Edwards once earned a living protecting his crease and keeping pucks out of the net.
But these days the former NHL star is focused on protecting his family and keeping the man who savagely killed his parents behind bars.
On Tuesday, the 63-year-old and other family members will once again once again head to Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst to deliver victim impact statements and urge a parole board to deny an application for day parole that would allow George Harding Lovie, now 59, to live in a Sudbury halfway house.
“The emotion and the anger are still there more than 28 years later,” Edwards told the Toronto Sun recently. “The thing that bothers us most is there’s been no repentance, no ‘I’m sorry’ or anything like that.”
Last month, on July 9, a two member parole board reached a split decision regarding Lovie’s day parole application, meaning another hearing had to be held with two new parole board members.
It also means yet another trip to Gravenhurst from the U.S. for Edwards whose family has lived in hiding since the double slaying.
“It just drains you for about two weeks, both emotionally and physically,” Edwards said of preparing for and attending Lovie’s numerous parole hearings in recent years.
But Edwards, who played for the Buffalo Sabres most of his career — winning a Vezina in 1980 — before spending a few years in Calgary and playing his final NHL season in Toronto in 1986, believes it’s vital that family of victims attend parole hearings.
“You’re literally a few feet away from the guy who killed your parents,” he said. “And all we can do is make the best case we can to keep this guy incarcerated.”
“Because as soon as you take your foot off the snake, the snake is going to bite you,” he added.
Don Edwards, now 63, played goal for the Buffalo Sabres from 1976 to 1982 before spending a few seasons with the Calgary Flames and wrapping up his NHL career stopping pucks for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1986. (file photo)
Lovie dated Edwards’ sister Michele briefly but she hadn’t seen him for about 10 months before he allegedly raped her at knifepoint in her home in Glanbrook, south of Hamilton, early in 1991.
He was arrested and charged for the rape — although never prosecuted — then released on bail the next day with an order to stay away from Michele.
Days later, Lovie purchased a high-powered rifle and a 9″ hunting knife and began stalking Michele.
Then on the morning of March 21, 1991 — about five weeks after the alleged sexual assault — Michele was leaving home for work and spotted Lovie crawling out from under her porch. She ran for her life towards her parents’ home down the street.
“He fired a shot with the rifle at my sister as she ran and the bullet hit our parents’ house,” Edwards said. “That may be what woke them up.”
Love shot Donna Edwards, 61, through a doorway as Arnold Edwards, 63, fought like hell to keep the crazed killer from entering the house.
Edwards said he’s still haunted by the “graphic” 17-minute recording of the 911 call played in court at Lovie’s trial.
“You can hear my dad screaming, ‘Leave my family alone!’”
Moments later Lovie was heard yelling, “D’you like me now?” as he repeatedly stabbed Arnold.
Lovie was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 25 years to life for each count.
Edwards still vividly remembers the day he received the phone call informing him his parents had been killed, making the drive from Buffalo where he was living at the time, and entering his parents’ house with his brothers-in-law once police had released the scene.
“There were massive pools of curdling blood everywhere,” he recalls. “We were almost sick to our stomachs.”
The childhood memories of growing up with his siblings in the home, where his steelworker father and homemaker mother made plenty of sacrifices to help him pursue his hockey dream, were forever tarnished by the horrific murder scene and smell of gun powder.
Edwards later had to walk away from his job as a real estate agent and a promising broadcasting career as he sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I was a total mess,” he remembers.
Lovie has been granted escorted temporary absences to visit his dad in Peterborough in 2015 and to visit a halfway house in Sudbury in 2017.
Parole board rejects day passes for killer of ex-NHLer’s parents
Edwards and his wife, Tannis, live in fear each time the convicted killer is allowed out of prison knowing in the past he has threatened to harm their three now grown children and other family members.
“If your last name is Edwards, you have a target on your back,” he said.
The thought of Lovie one day being set free is simply terrifying.
“The police can’t guarantee our protection. And the Parole Board can’t protect us,” Edwards said. “So we’re fighting like hell to keep him locked up.”
“But we know at some point we’re going to come to a dead-end and our lives will change dramatically the day they grant him full parole,” he added.
cdoucette@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @SunDoucette
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...aims-to-stop-parents-killer-from-walking-free
I realize the death penalty is wrongly off the table now, but besides saving the taxpayers $hundreds of thousands it would also eliminate the recurring agony caused by parole hearings! Do the law makers even consider this shit?
'NO FAIRY TALE ENDING': Ex-NHLer's parents' killer granted day parole
Chris Doucette
Published:
August 27, 2019
Updated:
August 28, 2019 12:16 PM EDT
Former NHL goaltender Don Edwards's parents, Arnold, 63, and Donna 61, who were murdered by George Harding Lovie in their Glanbrook, Ont. home on March 21, 1991. (file photo)
GRAVENHURST — Standing a metre behind the man who murdered his parents — close enough to touch the convicted killer — Don Edwards choked back tears remembering how his mom read fairy tales to his children when they were young.
“For the Edwards family, there is no fairy tale ending,” the former NHL star said Tuesday, his anger palpable as he delivered his victim statement at George Harding Lovie’s parole hearing.
His prophetic words still hung in the air at Beaver Creek Institution — the prison in Gravenhurst Lovie has called home in recent years — when board members Suzanne Poirier and Lynne Van Dalen approved the 61-year-old’s application for day parole.
“It feels like we’ve had our hearts ripped out,” Edwards said after the hearing of the gut-punch his family has awaited for 28 years since his mom was gunned down and his dad savagely stabbed.
Edwards, 63, who won a Vezina playing goal for the Buffalo Sabres and spent a few seasons in Calgary before wrapping up his NHL career in Toronto in 1986, and other family members took turns reading victim statements detailing the grisly double murder and how it continues to impact their lives.
Don Edwards, now 63, played goal for the Buffalo Sabres from 1976 to 1982 before spending a few seasons with the Calgary Flames and ultimately wrapping up his NHL career stopping pucks for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1986. (file photo)
But it was his youngest sister Michele’s retelling of that fateful morning on March 21, 1991, that was perhaps the most powerful.
She recalled walking out of her home in Glanbrook — south of Hamilton — to go to work, seeing Lovie pop out from under her porch armed with a rifle and running for her life to her parents’ house down the street.
Through tears, Michele vividly described how her parents — still in pajamas — tried in vain to barricade the door and keep Lovie out, hearing windows shatter, wood explode, her mom’s screams and her ex-boyfriend yelling, “How d’you like me now?” while plunging a knife into her dad’s chest, then having to jump over her mother’s lifeless body to escape the carnage.
“The events of that day are still raw in 2019,” Michele said. “Therapy has become a necessary part of my survival.”
Just five weeks before Donna Edwards, 61, and Arnold Edwards, 63, were slain, Lovie was arrested for allegedly raping Michele at knifepoint in her home — a charge that was never prosecuted and an allegation Lovie continues to deny.
He was released on bail a day later and ordered to stay away from his ex but began stalking Michele soon after.
Lovie was later convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 25 years to life for each count.
Parole board rejects day passes for killer of ex-NHLer’s parents
TOUGHEST SAVE: Ex-NHLer aims to stop parents’ killer from walking free
Surviving Edwards family members have lived in hiding ever since, afraid Lovie may one day make good on threats to kill them too.
Lovie sat emotionless throughout much of his hearing until he was given a chance to speak.
Without looking back at the dozen or so relatives of his victims seated behind him, he began his statement briefly apologizing to those he has hurt.
“I’m extremely sorry,” Lovie said, pausing momentarily to compose himself. “I regret my actions.”
Tannis Edwards, Don’s wife, later said it was the first time she had seen Lovie show remorse in nearly three decades, but she didn’t buy the “self-serving” apology.
Lovie will move to a halfway house in Sudbury once a bed is available and his day parole will be reviewed in six months.
“We poured our hearts out and we did everything we could to keep him in there,” a disappointed Don Edwards said. “But now he’ll be out, he’ll be free, and if he keeps his nose clean for six months he’ll be able to walk the streets anywhere in Canada.”
cdoucette@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @SunDoucette
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...g-ex-nhlers-parents-killer-granted-day-parole
Chris Doucette
Published:
August 27, 2019
Updated:
August 28, 2019 12:16 PM EDT
Former NHL goaltender Don Edwards's parents, Arnold, 63, and Donna 61, who were murdered by George Harding Lovie in their Glanbrook, Ont. home on March 21, 1991. (file photo)
GRAVENHURST — Standing a metre behind the man who murdered his parents — close enough to touch the convicted killer — Don Edwards choked back tears remembering how his mom read fairy tales to his children when they were young.
“For the Edwards family, there is no fairy tale ending,” the former NHL star said Tuesday, his anger palpable as he delivered his victim statement at George Harding Lovie’s parole hearing.
His prophetic words still hung in the air at Beaver Creek Institution — the prison in Gravenhurst Lovie has called home in recent years — when board members Suzanne Poirier and Lynne Van Dalen approved the 61-year-old’s application for day parole.
“It feels like we’ve had our hearts ripped out,” Edwards said after the hearing of the gut-punch his family has awaited for 28 years since his mom was gunned down and his dad savagely stabbed.
Edwards, 63, who won a Vezina playing goal for the Buffalo Sabres and spent a few seasons in Calgary before wrapping up his NHL career in Toronto in 1986, and other family members took turns reading victim statements detailing the grisly double murder and how it continues to impact their lives.
Don Edwards, now 63, played goal for the Buffalo Sabres from 1976 to 1982 before spending a few seasons with the Calgary Flames and ultimately wrapping up his NHL career stopping pucks for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1986. (file photo)
But it was his youngest sister Michele’s retelling of that fateful morning on March 21, 1991, that was perhaps the most powerful.
She recalled walking out of her home in Glanbrook — south of Hamilton — to go to work, seeing Lovie pop out from under her porch armed with a rifle and running for her life to her parents’ house down the street.
Through tears, Michele vividly described how her parents — still in pajamas — tried in vain to barricade the door and keep Lovie out, hearing windows shatter, wood explode, her mom’s screams and her ex-boyfriend yelling, “How d’you like me now?” while plunging a knife into her dad’s chest, then having to jump over her mother’s lifeless body to escape the carnage.
“The events of that day are still raw in 2019,” Michele said. “Therapy has become a necessary part of my survival.”
Just five weeks before Donna Edwards, 61, and Arnold Edwards, 63, were slain, Lovie was arrested for allegedly raping Michele at knifepoint in her home — a charge that was never prosecuted and an allegation Lovie continues to deny.
He was released on bail a day later and ordered to stay away from his ex but began stalking Michele soon after.
Lovie was later convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 25 years to life for each count.
Parole board rejects day passes for killer of ex-NHLer’s parents
TOUGHEST SAVE: Ex-NHLer aims to stop parents’ killer from walking free
Surviving Edwards family members have lived in hiding ever since, afraid Lovie may one day make good on threats to kill them too.
Lovie sat emotionless throughout much of his hearing until he was given a chance to speak.
Without looking back at the dozen or so relatives of his victims seated behind him, he began his statement briefly apologizing to those he has hurt.
“I’m extremely sorry,” Lovie said, pausing momentarily to compose himself. “I regret my actions.”
Tannis Edwards, Don’s wife, later said it was the first time she had seen Lovie show remorse in nearly three decades, but she didn’t buy the “self-serving” apology.
Lovie will move to a halfway house in Sudbury once a bed is available and his day parole will be reviewed in six months.
“We poured our hearts out and we did everything we could to keep him in there,” a disappointed Don Edwards said. “But now he’ll be out, he’ll be free, and if he keeps his nose clean for six months he’ll be able to walk the streets anywhere in Canada.”
cdoucette@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @SunDoucette
http://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...g-ex-nhlers-parents-killer-granted-day-parole
Memo contradicts CBC claims that HNIC loss cost network only 'a few dollars'
Postmedia News
Published:
October 10, 2019
Updated:
October 10, 2019 2:58 PM EDT
Ron McLean and Don Cherry before a broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada.SunMedia
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation once claimed the loss of licensing rights to Hockey Night in Canada only cost the network a “few dollars.”
That’s apparently not the case, according to an Access to Information memo obtained by the Department of Canadian Heritage.
The memo reportedly confirmed a steady decline in ad revenue for the CBC ever since the network lost the rights to Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC), which they held from 1952 to 2014.
“Advertising revenues have generally declined,” stated the memo, entitled CBC/Radio-Canada Trends In Funding Levels, which was prepared for a staff meeting with Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez on May 16.
The memorandum stated CBC advertising revenue peaked at $523 million in 2014, which was the last year the network held broadcasting rights to NHL games before losing it to Rogers Communications. Revenue fell 40% within two years, with ad revenue totalling $318 million in 2018.
Rogers paid $5.2 billion, outbidding the CBC for the HNIC licensing contract, which runs until 2026. At the time, the CBC claimed the loss wasn’t significant, with then network president Hubert Lacroix stating the network has “not lost hundreds of millions of dollars on the hockey contract.”
“We lost a few dollars,” Lacroix said in 2015 during testimony at the Senate communications committee.
“When you look at the broadcasting rights and the cost to produce hockey, and the revenues on the other side, and when you look at it over six years, we didn’t make money on this contract.”
Senators questioned Lacroix’s claim. The memo stated the CBC lost $260 million in ad revenue within two years of losing HNIC.
“If you can’t make money on hockey in Canada, I don’t know what you could make money on,” said Nova Scotia Conservative Senator Michael MacDonald. “This was very poor management.”
Ex-CBC executive Richard Stursberg told the Senate communications committee that the “loss of hockey is going to have serious financial consequences.”
“You not only lose the profits from hockey, (but) you also lose your capacity to sell the rest of your advertising at reasonable prices.”
According to Stursberg: “The way you would do it is you’d say, ‘If you would like to have hockey, then you have to buy this dog over here that nobody wants.’ I would say, ‘But I don’t want the dog,’ and you would say: ‘I’m sorry, you have to take the dog if you want the hockey.’
“So, hockey is not only important in its own right, it’s important because it props up the rest of the advertising sales.”
Data released on June 20 by the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) verified CBC television ad revenues plummeted as much as 75% in some markets after losing HNIC.
Between 2014 and 2018, local ad revenue fell 75% in Ontario, 58% in British Columbia, 17.5% in the Maritimes and 11% at seven CBC Prairie stations.
Viewership for CBC’s flagship local newscasts also fell in 2018 to 230,000 across the country.
CBC CEO Catherine Tait told the Commons heritage committee on May 30 that the network didn’t focus on audience loss.
“Competitiveness: We don’t think of ourselves in those terms,” Tait stated. “We become a beacon for truth.”
The CBC’s largest revenue source is a $1.2 billion parliamentary grant.
“If you’re talking about competing for advertising dollars or audience share, those are different things.”
http://torontosun.com/news/national...hat-hnic-loss-cost-network-only-a-few-dollars
Postmedia News
Published:
October 10, 2019
Updated:
October 10, 2019 2:58 PM EDT
Ron McLean and Don Cherry before a broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada.SunMedia
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation once claimed the loss of licensing rights to Hockey Night in Canada only cost the network a “few dollars.”
That’s apparently not the case, according to an Access to Information memo obtained by the Department of Canadian Heritage.
The memo reportedly confirmed a steady decline in ad revenue for the CBC ever since the network lost the rights to Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC), which they held from 1952 to 2014.
“Advertising revenues have generally declined,” stated the memo, entitled CBC/Radio-Canada Trends In Funding Levels, which was prepared for a staff meeting with Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez on May 16.
The memorandum stated CBC advertising revenue peaked at $523 million in 2014, which was the last year the network held broadcasting rights to NHL games before losing it to Rogers Communications. Revenue fell 40% within two years, with ad revenue totalling $318 million in 2018.
Rogers paid $5.2 billion, outbidding the CBC for the HNIC licensing contract, which runs until 2026. At the time, the CBC claimed the loss wasn’t significant, with then network president Hubert Lacroix stating the network has “not lost hundreds of millions of dollars on the hockey contract.”
“We lost a few dollars,” Lacroix said in 2015 during testimony at the Senate communications committee.
“When you look at the broadcasting rights and the cost to produce hockey, and the revenues on the other side, and when you look at it over six years, we didn’t make money on this contract.”
Senators questioned Lacroix’s claim. The memo stated the CBC lost $260 million in ad revenue within two years of losing HNIC.
“If you can’t make money on hockey in Canada, I don’t know what you could make money on,” said Nova Scotia Conservative Senator Michael MacDonald. “This was very poor management.”
Ex-CBC executive Richard Stursberg told the Senate communications committee that the “loss of hockey is going to have serious financial consequences.”
“You not only lose the profits from hockey, (but) you also lose your capacity to sell the rest of your advertising at reasonable prices.”
According to Stursberg: “The way you would do it is you’d say, ‘If you would like to have hockey, then you have to buy this dog over here that nobody wants.’ I would say, ‘But I don’t want the dog,’ and you would say: ‘I’m sorry, you have to take the dog if you want the hockey.’
“So, hockey is not only important in its own right, it’s important because it props up the rest of the advertising sales.”
Data released on June 20 by the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) verified CBC television ad revenues plummeted as much as 75% in some markets after losing HNIC.
Between 2014 and 2018, local ad revenue fell 75% in Ontario, 58% in British Columbia, 17.5% in the Maritimes and 11% at seven CBC Prairie stations.
Viewership for CBC’s flagship local newscasts also fell in 2018 to 230,000 across the country.
CBC CEO Catherine Tait told the Commons heritage committee on May 30 that the network didn’t focus on audience loss.
“Competitiveness: We don’t think of ourselves in those terms,” Tait stated. “We become a beacon for truth.”
The CBC’s largest revenue source is a $1.2 billion parliamentary grant.
“If you’re talking about competing for advertising dollars or audience share, those are different things.”
http://torontosun.com/news/national...hat-hnic-loss-cost-network-only-a-few-dollars
Raise a glass of whisky to the NHL captains
Rita DeMontis
Published:
October 23, 2019
Updated:
October 23, 2019 8:40 AM EDT
J.P. Wiser’s Alumni Whisky Series: The Captains Line honouring Yvan Cournoyer, Mark Messier, and Dave Keon.
J.P. Wiser’s scores a hat trick with its third installment of the Alumni Whisky Series: The Captains Line.
Just in time for the hockey season (or ideas for holiday gifts), this lineup includes some of the game’s greatest who wore the captain’s badge: Mark Messier, Yvan Cournoyer and Dave Keon. As with the previous releases in the Series, each of these whiskies has been meticulously blended to celebrate the featured alumni and their profound impact to the game:
Mark Messier: Arguably one of the game’s best captains, Messier led his teams with a combination of skill and strength. This bold and tenacious three-grain whisky is blended to deliver on Messier’s strength. Aged 11 years in Speyside Malt barrels, this whisky celebrates No. 11’s impact on the game.
Yvan Cournoyer: Aged 12 years to honour Yvan’s playing number, this whisky was inspired by Cournoyer’s game-winning pass to Paul Henderson in the Canada 1972 Summit Series. Much like Cournoyer’s smooth hands led to the gritty game-winning goal, this complex liquid is a smooth three-grain blend with gritty rye flavours.
Dave Keon: With a 45% ABV to celebrate the 45-points Keon scored in his first season, this well-balanced whisky compliments his offensive and defensive abilities on the ice. To truly pay homage to this hockey legend, this whisky is aged 14 years for Keon’s playing number and uses four different barrels to commemorate his four Stanley Cup wins.
Story continues below
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but your article continues below.
Whether you are a fan of the sport, grew up watching these players, or simply appreciate genuine Canadian spirit, this collection is for you — not to mention, part of the proceeds from this whisky collaboration go back to the NHL Alumni Association (NHLAA) to help support their social ambitions.
The Alumni Whisky Series is a one-time-only player whisky release. This third lineup of premium, collectible player whiskies will be available this season in select stores across Canada.
– Check out Jpwisers.com/ca; Corby.ca.
http://jpwisers.ca
http://corby.ca
http://torontosun.com/life/food/1023-ggcaptains
Rita DeMontis
Published:
October 23, 2019
Updated:
October 23, 2019 8:40 AM EDT
J.P. Wiser’s Alumni Whisky Series: The Captains Line honouring Yvan Cournoyer, Mark Messier, and Dave Keon.
J.P. Wiser’s scores a hat trick with its third installment of the Alumni Whisky Series: The Captains Line.
Just in time for the hockey season (or ideas for holiday gifts), this lineup includes some of the game’s greatest who wore the captain’s badge: Mark Messier, Yvan Cournoyer and Dave Keon. As with the previous releases in the Series, each of these whiskies has been meticulously blended to celebrate the featured alumni and their profound impact to the game:
Mark Messier: Arguably one of the game’s best captains, Messier led his teams with a combination of skill and strength. This bold and tenacious three-grain whisky is blended to deliver on Messier’s strength. Aged 11 years in Speyside Malt barrels, this whisky celebrates No. 11’s impact on the game.
Yvan Cournoyer: Aged 12 years to honour Yvan’s playing number, this whisky was inspired by Cournoyer’s game-winning pass to Paul Henderson in the Canada 1972 Summit Series. Much like Cournoyer’s smooth hands led to the gritty game-winning goal, this complex liquid is a smooth three-grain blend with gritty rye flavours.
Dave Keon: With a 45% ABV to celebrate the 45-points Keon scored in his first season, this well-balanced whisky compliments his offensive and defensive abilities on the ice. To truly pay homage to this hockey legend, this whisky is aged 14 years for Keon’s playing number and uses four different barrels to commemorate his four Stanley Cup wins.
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet,
but your article continues below.
Whether you are a fan of the sport, grew up watching these players, or simply appreciate genuine Canadian spirit, this collection is for you — not to mention, part of the proceeds from this whisky collaboration go back to the NHL Alumni Association (NHLAA) to help support their social ambitions.
The Alumni Whisky Series is a one-time-only player whisky release. This third lineup of premium, collectible player whiskies will be available this season in select stores across Canada.
– Check out Jpwisers.com/ca; Corby.ca.
http://jpwisers.ca
http://corby.ca
http://torontosun.com/life/food/1023-ggcaptains
You obviously haven't checked the stats this year. Hint their standings are in the top half of the league.
Raise a glass of whisky to the NHL captains
Rita DeMontis
Published:
October 23, 2019
Updated:
October 23, 2019 8:40 AM EDT
J.P. Wiser’s Alumni Whisky Series: The Captains Line honouring Yvan Cournoyer, Mark Messier, and Dave Keon.
J.P. Wiser’s scores a hat trick with its third installment of the Alumni Whisky Series: The Captains Line.
Just in time for the hockey season (or ideas for holiday gifts), this lineup includes some of the game’s greatest who wore the captain’s badge: Mark Messier, Yvan Cournoyer and Dave Keon. As with the previous releases in the Series, each of these whiskies has been meticulously blended to celebrate the featured alumni and their profound impact to the game:
Mark Messier: Arguably one of the game’s best captains, Messier led his teams with a combination of skill and strength. This bold and tenacious three-grain whisky is blended to deliver on Messier’s strength. Aged 11 years in Speyside Malt barrels, this whisky celebrates No. 11’s impact on the game.
Yvan Cournoyer: Aged 12 years to honour Yvan’s playing number, this whisky was inspired by Cournoyer’s game-winning pass to Paul Henderson in the Canada 1972 Summit Series. Much like Cournoyer’s smooth hands led to the gritty game-winning goal, this complex liquid is a smooth three-grain blend with gritty rye flavours.
Dave Keon: With a 45% ABV to celebrate the 45-points Keon scored in his first season, this well-balanced whisky compliments his offensive and defensive abilities on the ice. To truly pay homage to this hockey legend, this whisky is aged 14 years for Keon’s playing number and uses four different barrels to commemorate his four Stanley Cup wins.
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Whether you are a fan of the sport, grew up watching these players, or simply appreciate genuine Canadian spirit, this collection is for you — not to mention, part of the proceeds from this whisky collaboration go back to the NHL Alumni Association (NHLAA) to help support their social ambitions.
The Alumni Whisky Series is a one-time-only player whisky release. This third lineup of premium, collectible player whiskies will be available this season in select stores across Canada.
– Check out Jpwisers.com/ca; Corby.ca.
http://jpwisers.ca
http://corby.ca
http://torontosun.com/life/food/1023-ggcaptains
Anything for an extra nickel-anything at all.
