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Don Cherry, the king of hockey commentary for many decades, weighed in on Corey Perry’s debut in Edmonton’s win over Nashville, the 16th win in a row for the Oilers.
“There’s a lot of pressure on Perry. If they had lost that game, it would have been his fault… breaking up a winning combination.”
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Cherry said as a coach he was loathe to break up a winning combination, but once Brad Park, then one of the NHL’s best d-men, was coming back from injury on the Boston Bruins and petitioned hard to get back in. Cherry relented and put him in for a game, which the Bruins tied but failed to win. Cherry was so mad he threw a towel at Park.
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“It wasn’t very nice,” Cherry said of his actions.
My take
1. It was great to check in on Cherry, now just a few days short of 90 years of age, on his Don Cherry’s Grapevine podcast. Cherry can still rant with the best of them when it comes to his favourite topics.
On this podcast, for example, he mentioned how small the gloves were of NHL players and how that led to injuries. “Bobby Orr wore bigger gloves and he seemed to do pretty good.”
That’s pure Don Cherry.
I can’t say I miss him on the Hockey Night in Canada. He ventured off topic from hockey too much for my liking in his last decade. But I’ll never forget or forgive the way he was let go.
2. I wish he’d had more to say on Perry, but he did make a solid point. There would have been all kinds of gnashing of teeth about Perry’s inclusion in the team if the Oilers had lost to the Predators.
I was cool with Coach Kris Knoblauch inserting Perry into the line-up. Knoblauch had already mixed up the lines and brought back Dylan Holloway and Sam Gagner into the team during the winning streak. I figured the team was in need of a bit of jolt, a shake-up, as a few too many games against weak teams had been close.
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As for Perry’s addition to the Oilers, he passed his first test with solid reviews from his first game. He also checked a box for the team, being a bigger, physical veteran winger who has won a Stanley Cup.
3. Asked who would be on his Mount Rushmore of NHL players, Cherry said he’d seen them all and would vote for Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Maurice “Rocket” Richard. Of the players I’ve seen in my 52 years as a fan, I’d go with Gretzky, Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux.
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At the Cult of Hockey
McCURDY: How sweet was that perfect January? Historically sweet
STAPLES: The perfect player for the Oilers to acquire? Insiders dream big
McCURDY: Digging into Oilers’ vastly-improved penalty kill
LEAVINS: 9 Things featuring Corey Perry
McCURDY: 16 in a row! Player grades vs. Predators
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