Don Cherry

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Cherry was born in Kingston, Ontario, to Delmar (Del) and Maude Cherry. His paternal grandfather, Sub/Cst. John T. (Jack) Cherry, was an original member of the North-West Mounted Police and a Great Lakes ship captain. His maternal grandfather, Richard Palamountain, was a British orphan of Cornish parentage who emigrated to Canada as one of the Home Children. Cherry's father Del was an amateur athlete and worked as an electrician with the Canadian Steamship Lines. Cherry's younger brother, Dick Cherry, played hockey including two seasons in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers. Cherry met his future wife Rosemarie (Rose) Cherry née Madelyn Martini in his first year with the Hershey Bears of the AHL. Rose died of liver cancer on June 1, 1997. In 1999, Don married his second wife, Luba. Cherry won the Memorial Cup while playing defence in Barrie in 1953. He played his only NHL game in 1955 when the Boston Bruins called him up during the playoffs. Cherry won the Calder Cup championship four times—1960 with the Springfield Indians, and 1965, 1966, 1968 with Rochester. He also won the Lester Patrick Cup with the Vancouver Canucks in 1969. After his playing career, he coached the Rochester Americans in the AHL, then became head coach of the Boston Bruins for the 1974–75 season. He won the Jack Adams Award for the 1975 season. The Bruins made the Stanley Cup finals twice under Cherry, both times losing to the Montreal Canadiens in 1977 and 1978. He was fired by the Bruins after the 1979 playoffs. Cherry went on to coach the Colorado Rockies in the 1979–80 season.

In Their Own Story

The 1977 Stanley Cup Final pitted Don Cherry's Boston Bruins against the powerhouse Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens had dominated the regular season with 60 wins and 132 points, setting new NHL records. Despite the Bruins' strong playoff run that included sweeping the Flyers, Montreal proved too formidable. The Canadiens swept the series in four games to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup. The Bruins' only losses in the earlier rounds had been two games to the New York Islanders in the semifinals, but against Montreal they could not secure a single victory.

Reader's Guide

Don Cherry is a former NHL player and coach, best known as the head coach of the Boston Bruins from 1974 to 1979. He later became a television commentator, co-hosting Coach's Corner on Hockey Night in Canada from 1986 to 2019. He is nicknamed Grapes and known for his outspoken manner and flamboyant dress. Cherry has no connection to the Buffalo Sabres; he never played for or coached the Sabres.

Did You Know?

• Don Cherry played only one NHL game, with the Boston Bruins in 1955.
• He coached the Boston Bruins for five seasons, leading them to four division titles and two Stanley Cup Final appearances.
• Cherry co-hosted Coach's Corner on Hockey Night in Canada from 1986 to 2019.
• He created and starred in the direct-to-video series Don Cherry's Rock'em Sock'em Hockey from 1989 to 2018.
• In 2004, Cherry was voted by viewers as the seventh-greatest Canadian of all time in the CBC miniseries The Greatest Canadian.