Hayley Wickenheiser says she appreciates what Don Cherry did for hockey. She said she also often disagreed with what the colorful hockey commentator had to say.
“It’s been difficult. I’ve had a hard time formulating my thoughts on this because I’ve known Don for 20 years, and of all people who play hockey with a platform, he has been a strong supporter of our women’s game “Wickenheiser said. . “But at the same time, over the years, I often looked at Don and shook my head. I didn’t agree with a lot of things he said.
“The headbutts – being in (medical) school – it’s hard to hear. The comments he made, I don’t think they were fair last weekend. I don’t think that he meant them the way he did, but it came out that way – and that’s Don. It’s not a question of black or white with Don. Human beings are nuanced. Everything “Everyone makes mistakes on one side or the other of this issue, but I respect a lot what he’s done in his career. But I also think those comments were way out of line.”
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Wickenheiser also criticized comments made by Jessica Allen on the TV show “The Social.” Allen said Tuesday that she “didn’t worship at the altar of hockey” and found through experience that those who did “all tended to be white boys who weren’t, well, very nice.”
“That comment isn’t true either. Not every boy and girl who plays hockey is a privileged white person,” Wickenheiser said. “Yes, hockey is a predominantly white sport and it’s a very expensive sport. There’s no doubt about that. I kind of understand where she was trying to come from, but these comments are inflammatory. It’s not what the game needs.”
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Former Montreal Canadiens captain Guy Carbonneau said Cherry “said a lot of things in his 40 years on television.” And although Carbonneau said most of it was “really good,” he took issue with Cherry’s frequent disparaging remarks about French Canadians.
“I didn’t like it. I didn’t see the reason why he was saying those things,” Carbonneau said. “It’s like the Europeans. If you look at hockey today, what would the NHL be if it wasn’t for the French or the Europeans? I’ve never really looked at it that deeply. I didn’t like what he said. was it. Turn the page.
Former star defender Sergei Zubov said that although social media was less omnipresent when he played, Russians still heard about it whenever Cherry insulted one of their compatriots.
“He was a great point of motivation,” Zubov said. “He just pushed us more towards our goals.
“Thank you very much, Don.”
