WARMINGTON: Who said 'Coach' Don Cherry has done his final podcast? Not Grapes
The iconic fixture on Coach's Corner for 40 years said he's not retiring, as many on social media thought from his latest episode
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Seems the reports of Don Cherry’s retirement have been greatly exaggerated!
Not so fast. ‘You people’ just may have jumped the Coach’s departure a tad prematurely!
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WARMINGTON: Who said 'Coach' Don Cherry has done his final podcast? Not Grapes Back to video
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“Yeah, just like Mark Twain,” Cherry said laughing.
At least the Coach got to see how much people love him. But don’t worry, this is a good news column. Not an obituary.
“I’m coming back next season,” the legendary broadcaster told me late Monday. “I can’t wait.”
Well, it’s a good thing I checked in with Grapes. It certainly did say “Don Cherry says goodbye in final podcast” in his X post Monday afternoon.
“We just meant to say goodbye for this year,” said the iconic star of almost four decades of Coach’s Corner on Hockey Night In Canada. “We always do that at the end the season. There’s no more hockey this year so there’s no podcast for the summer. I guess we should have said for the season.”
Many on social media, understandably, took the father and son sign-off to mean it was for good. You can see how that would happen.
“Well, Tim, this is our last show,” Grapes said on the sign-off.
“Yep,” said Tim. “How many podcasts have we done?
“I don’t know,” said Don.
“This is our 313th podcast,” said Tim, adding they have “been listened to around the world” with 6.5 million downloads.
It’s a very successful podcast and so important for so many to be able to hear Cherry’s take on things since his unceremonious departure from Hockey Night in Canada after ‘Poppy Gate.’ The podcast filled a void for his fans, who missed Coach’s Corner.
But will there be a 314th episode once the NHL season drops the puck again in October?
“Definitely,” said the former NHL Coach of the Year.
Nowhere did they say they are hanging up the microphone. But an emotional Don said at the end, “Thanks everybody for listening – toodaloo.”
Many took this to mean that was it for Don but I wasn’t so sure because usually when he is wrapping something up, he gives me a heads up. He did that when he and Tim made the decision to end their popular Rock’em Sock’em Hockey video series and when he wound up the Don Cherry Grapevine radio show. And even when he was ridiculously fired by Rogers on Remembrance Day 2019 for encouraging people to wear poppies to remember the troops, he called to tell me.
With no call from Don, there was no way I was going to report this was the end of Cherry’s punditry career. So, I reached out to his email right away to find out if these reports were accurate. His wife, Luba said, “It’s the last one until they pick it up when hockey starts in the fall” but Tim, however, teased “instead of doing the podcast and have lunch, we might just do lunch.”
But Don said Tim always makes a similar joke.
“He’ll be back,” said Cherry. “Tim, always says that. He loves hockey and knows hockey.”
Tim is important in this podcast because, like Don, he’s a hockey guy. A former central scout for the OHL, Tim has always had a keen eye for talent. He grew up hanging out at the rink when Don was coaching Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins. Tim, who has been a fly on the wall for the whole journey, is also about the only person Grapes likes to watch games with.
“He so knowledgeable,” said Cherry. “Tim was a very good hockey player too.”
Unfortunately, his kidneys failed when he was a kid and his older sister Cindy gave him a new lease on life by donating him one of her kidneys. Cindy Cherry’s unexpected death last summer at age 67 after a short illness is part this story in that it rocked Don to the core and it took him months to get his mojo back.
It was a devastating blow for Don and the whole family. Cindy was an amazing woman of charity, integrity and a voice of reason and calm. Don is very close to his kids and the podcast was a weekly get-together for a great lunch and chance for all of them to talk hockey and take a trip down memory lane with Don’s beloved and loyal audience.
They decided to keep going after Cindy’s death and grandson Del was able to go ahead and get Cindy’s book — The Don Cherry Story, from a daughter’s point of view — published. With that, there was a new importance for the podcast in that it gave Grapes something to look forward to each week.
“The book is doing well,” said Don. “I am enjoying reading it too because I remember all of those stories and it’s neat to hear them again.”
That book helps keep Cindy alive for him, his time each week with Tim and Del, his interaction with his cherished fans through the questions they send in, and his love for the hockey players he talks about, are all part of what keeps Grapes going.
His fans were relieved to hear the goodbye was misunderstood.
“I sure hope it’s just a break,” said Mississauga realtor Steve Jay. “It means a lot to me and his fans. We love him. He’s Canada’s dad, in my opinion.”
“Don should be named to the Hockey Hall of Fame today,” said Jamie Wiley of Parry Sound. “I still can’t believe he hasn’t been.”
I agree. I don’t want Don to retire. He never should have been silenced in the first place. Grapes is like a fine wine that gets better with age.
Both Don and Tim are cognizant that Cherry’s next birthday will be his 92nd. But they also know their audience still loves to hear what the Coach has to say. Don said he still enjoys working with Tim and loves Cherry Nation.
“They are all hockey people, too,” said Don. “They know this game.”
In the final podcast for this season, Don and Tim talked about how Brad Marchand should have won the Conn Smythe, how much he would have loved to coach him, how Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews are “superstars,” and how the Edmonton Oilers missed Zach Hyman in the finals against the Panthers but there’s no shame in losing because “Florida were the better team.”
It’s a fun 13-minute listen. Don knows he can’t do the podcast forever but he’s not packing it in just yet.
“I was just saying farewell for the summer,” he said with a laugh. “Right now, I am watching my Blue Jays. It’s baseball season.”
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