Don and his dog Blue
My long awaited Don Cherry action figure came! Now this hockey legend joins my collection of other Philly players John LeClair and Jeremy Roenick (there will be a Peter Forsberg, the Swedish Eric Lindros of injuries, later this year, yet I’m hoping there will be a Simon Gagne and/or Mike Knuble next season).
Who is this guy? My friend Brian said it best, he’s the John Madden of hockey. He’s more of a pundit on the state of the NHL and hockey in general. Don Cherry didn’t have a very long career in the NHL as a coach (a few seasons with Boston and the Colorado Rockies, who are now the New Jersey Devils) and even shorter as a player (one game for Boston in 1955). He spent most of his playing in the minors. With such a short time in the majors, you could also say he’s the Bob Uecker of hockey. Doesn’t matter though because he is one the highlights of watching Hockey Night in Canada (only available on CBC through the NHL Center Ice package). The guy speaks his mind and doesn’t pull any punches which is against the Canadian stereotype; they’re usually polite, easily swayed. He’s very pro (English) Canadian when it comes to hockey players and game strategy so Europeans and Quebecoises/Quebeckers are frequently ridiculed by him. Lastly you’re always waiting for him to appear on his segment called Coach’s Corner just to see what kind of outrageous blazer he’ll wear that evening too.
Macfarlane toys does the coolest sports figures too, look at the level of detail courtesy of this photo by Somara.
"I consider my style that of the men of the 1930s, where men had an elegant style, tight suits, tight collars, lots of jewellery, a clean sharp image. I must admit my style has been called foppish, but I like it."