Don Cherry breaks his silence on banning fighting in junior hockey

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Josh tupper
March 27, 2023 (10:54)

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Don Cherry is a Canadian Hero, the former host of Coaches Corner, raised a generation of hockey fans. Cherry always preached accountability for plays actions and was a believer that fighting made the game safe. However, many disagreed with his beliefs.

Last week the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced that beginning next season they were officially banning fighting. On a recent episode of the Grapevine Podcast, Cherry spoke about his thoughts and the recent comments of former player Bobby Nadeau.

During his Juniors career, Nadeau was famously attacked by Patrick Roy's son Jonathan during a game.

When Nadeau the was asked about the fighting ban, he surprised many with his comments about how banning fighting could in fact make the game more dangerous. Especially if there wasn't a focus on removing other dirty and violent plays from the game.

When asked Cherry shared the following thoughts.

He got the heck kicked out of him so they thought 'This is a good guy to talk to because he would be against fighting' but he was pretty good. He said 'This could lead to more vicious play', and the other thing he said was 'Will lead to players feeling more brave with their stick' and nobody expected him to be the guy [to take that position.]

It's clear that Cherry still feels the same way he always has and feels that fighting has its place in the sport.

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Does fighting still belong in hockey?
Yes, it's part of the game	642	83.1 %
No, remove it completely	39	5 %
Just remove staged fights	92	11.9 %
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