B16 HOCKEY Q THEGLOBEANDMAIL| WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019
Cherry has since described his
words as not being racial or big-
oted but patriotic and respectful.
His employer, Sportsnet, the
NHL and the CBC, for whom he
worked across four decades, dis-
agreed.
When asked to apologize by
Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley,
as his partner on the program
Ron MacLean had on Sunday,
the pugnacious former National
Hockey League coach refused.
That caused him to be drop-
ped from a broadcast he first
joined for the 1980 Stanley Cup
playoffs.
On the day after, reverber-
ations were felt around the
league.
In Montreal, Max Domi ex-
pressed admiration for Cherry,
who has always operated with
controversy in his wake. Over the
years, among other things, he
sideswiped francophones and
blasted European players, called
Liberals pinkos and made fun of
climate-change believers.
“I love Don Cherry,” said Dom-
i, who has known him all of his
life. His dad, Tie, was a bare-
knuckles brawler, the hardscrab-
ble type of tough guy Cherry
held in the highest esteem.
“What he’s done for this sport is
remarkable. I will always look up
to him.”
As of Tuesday, nearly 200,000
people had signed a handful of
different petitions being circulat-
ed that demand Cherry be rein-
stated. Fans called him a symbol
of the working class, and railed
at Sportsnet for caving to the po-
litically correct.
Others lauded the network for
making a decision they say was
long overdue. The Canadian
Broadcasting Standards Council
was so overloaded with com-
plaints about his diatribe that it
exceeded the organization’s ca-
pacity to keep track of them.
In a series of television inter-
views on Tuesday night, Cherry
said he would not apologize for
what he said, but would choose
different words.
On a busy practice day for the
Maple Leafs, Cherry’s departure
garnered as much attention asMitch Marner’s injured ankle,
Zach Hyman’s imminent return
and the arrival of rookie goalie
Kasimir Kaskisuo.
Hyman, who underwent knee
surgery during the off-season,
will rejoin the team when it
plays the Islanders in New York
on Wednesday night.
Kaskisuo was called up from
the American Hockey League’s
Toronto Marlies after Michael
Hutchinson, the backup to Fre-
derik Andersen, was waived onMonday.
Hyman, 27, recalled how excit-
ed he was the first time Cherry
ever mentioned his name on tel-
evision.
“It was awesome,” Hyman
said at the team’s practice rink in
the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke.
“He has been around hockey for-
ever, but you can’t say stuff to-
day like he did. You’ve got to be
accepting of everyone.
“ ‘Hockey Is For Everyone’ is
one of our slogans in the NHL,and it’s really true. For him to say
that sort of stuff is unaccept-
able.”
John Tavares, the Maple Leafs
captain, grew up in Toronto and
recalls seeing Cherry stand be-
hind the glass when he played in
minor hockey tournaments.
“I think it is disappointing on
many fronts, the comments, but
certainly the way his tenure end-
ed,” Tavares said. “There was so
many good things that he did
through his commitment to the
game. I think everybody would
wish something like this never
happened.”
Jason Spezza, who at 36 is the
oldest member of the team, finds
it sad.
“I’m not one to weigh into it
too much, but what makes Cana-
da great is the equality we have
and how diverse our culture is,”
Spezza said. “You don’t like any-
thing that is discriminatory and
offends anyone, but Don is an
icon. You don’t like to see things
end that way.”
Head coach Mike Babcock said
he understands why people were
offended.
“I know when you are in a sit-
uation like I am you have to be
mindful of how great the game is
and what it is all about,” he said.
“I am sure it must be tough on
him and his family, but having
said that, certain things are
right.”
Back at his dressing stall, Bar-
rie said he believes Cherry’s com-
ments may have been misunder-
stood.
“He is 85 years old,” Barrie
said.
“I don’t think he meant it the
way it has been taken. At the end
of the day, though, we all are re-
sponsible for our actions.”Cherry:CanadianBroadcastingStandardsCouncilwasoverloadedwithcomplaints
FROM B15Hockey commentator Don Cherry was dropped by Sportsnet on Monday after he refused to apologize for his
comments about immigrants and poppies.MARKBLINCH/REUTERSJonathan Drouin scored the
shootout winner to give the Mon-
treal Canadiens a 3-2 come-from-
behind victory over the visiting
Columbus Blue Jackets on Tues-
day night.
Brendan Gallagher and Tomas
Tatar scored in the third period
for the Canadiens (10-5-3), who
were down 1-0 after two. Carey
Price stopped 33 of 35 shots.
Eric Robinson and Zach Weren-
ski scored in regulation for Co-
lumbus (6-8-4). Backup goalie El-
vis Merzlikins was recalled from
the AHL on Monday and made 30
saves.
A frenetic final two minutes of
the third period saw Columbus
take a 2-1 lead only for Montreal
to score the equalizer right after.
Werenski put the visitors
ahead with 1 minute 51 seconds
left in the game on a beautiful
shot into the top corner of the
net.
Moments after the Blue Jackets
narrowly missed the empty net,
Montreal took advantage of the
extra skater when Nick Suzuki
found Tatar open at the side of
the goal with 41 seconds on the
clock.
After Columbus failed to take
advantage of a power play in
overtime, Drouin scored the
shootout’s only goal while Price
stopped all three Columbus shoo-
ters.
The Canadiens have now won
six of their past eight games (6-
1-1).
It was an electric goaltender
battle on full display early on.
Price made three quick saves
on a Columbus power play in the
first period, including hard shots
from Emil Bemstrom and Josh
Anderson in the slot.
Merzlikins was also in fine
form in the first, making a reac-
tion save on Gallagher’s redirec-
tion of Jeff Petry’s shot from the
point.
The Blue Jackets rewarded
their goalie with a lead just a few
minutes later.
Robinson, making his season
debut for Columbus, beat Pricewith a shot between the pads at
16:46 for his first NHL goal. Price
could not handle the initial shot
from Werenski from the blueline.
The Canadiens fired 14 shots
on target, none too dangerous, in
a dull second period.
As good as Merzlikins was after
40 minutes, the Blue Jackets net-
minder gifted the equalizer to
Montreal early in the third peri-
od.
Gallagher scored his team-
leading eighth of the season at
3:27 with a fairly harmless shot
from distance that went five-hole
on Merzlikins.The 25-year-old goalie, who be-
gan his career in the Swiss league,
came into the encounter with an
.882 save percentage after four
games.
With an assist on Gallagher’s
goal, Weber extended his point
streak to four games.
Notes:The Jackets finished 0 for 3
with the man advantage. Nick Fo-
ligno was serving the first of a
three-game suspension. This was
the first of three meetings be-
tween Montreal and Columbus
this year.THECANADIANPRESSHabssqueakbyBlueJacketsinshootout
Drouinscoresthe
winnerafterTatarties
itupfortheCanadiens
with41secondsleft
inthethirdperiod
KELSEY PATTERSONMONTREAL
The BlueJackets’ Boone
Jenner moves in on
Canadiens goalie Carey
Price during their
matchup in Montreal on
Tuesday. Price stopped
33 of 35 shots.
GRAHAMHUGHES/
THECANADIANPRESSAdam Werner made 40 saves in
his NHL debut and Nathan
MacKinnon had two goals and
two assists as the Colorado Ava-
lanche defeated the Winnipeg
Jets 4-0 on Tuesday for their third
straight victory.
Werner’s shutout is shared
with Pavel Francouz, who started
in net for the Avalanche but only
lasted 31 seconds after getting in-
jured.
Francouz was run into by an
off-balance Mark Scheifele and
fell back and hit his head on the
ice. He went to the dressing room
and the 22-year-old native of
Sweden stepped between the
pipes for his first NHL game.
Rookie defenceman Cale Ma-
kar opened the scoring for the
Avalanche (11-5-2). Joonas Don-
skoi had a goal and two assists
and Matt Calvert contributed a
pair of assists.
Makar now has 18 points in 18
games to lead all NHL rookies.
The Calgary native is also on a
four-game point streak with four
goals and three assists.
It was the first time this season
the Jets (10-8-1) were shut out.
Connor Hellebuyck made 21
saves for Winnipeg, which ended
its four-game homestand going
2-1-1.
Colorado continues to over-
come injuries to key players.
Starting netminder Philipp
Grubauer missed his third
straight game with a lower-bodyinjury, but took part in some of
the team’s practice on Monday.
Top-line forwards Mikko Ranta-
nen and Gabriel Landeskog re-
main sidelined.
Colorado, which was starting a
five-game road trip, led 1-0 after
the first period and held that lead
after two.
The Avalanche had two power
plays in the opening period, in-
cluding one following Scheifele’s
penalty for goaltender interfe-
rence. Makar hit the crossbar
during the second man advan-
tage.
Makar then scored when he
got around Jets forward Mathieu
Perreault and paused a moment
before putting a low shot past
Hellebuyck at 19:01.
Werner made a snapping glovesave when Winnipeg sharpshoo-
ter Patrik Laine blasted a one-
timer at him during a first-period
power play.
Called up from the Eagles, Col-
orado’s American Hockey League
affiliate, on Nov. 7, Werner faced
a 2-on-1 of Scheifele and Kyle
Connor late in the second, but
held up against Connor’s shot.
The Jets were outshooting the
visitors 21-16 after the second.
MacKinnon quickly gave the
Avalanche a 2-0 lead when he
scored his 10th goal of the season
18 seconds into the third period
and added his second of the
game at 7:13. Donskoi finished off
the scoring with a goal off a re-
bound at 13:13.THE CANADIAN PRESSWernerstandstallinNHLdebuttoleadAvalanchepastJets
JUDY OWENWINNIPEG
Werner’sshutoutisshared
withPavelFrancouz,who
startedinnetforthe
Avalanchebutonlylasted31
secondsaftergettinginjured.