Canucks need to re-sign Pyatt

Mr. Cherry,
I am Ken Reardon's grandson and i just wanted to thank you for the kind words you said about him the other night. He was a huge fan of yours. Thank you.
Calder Reardon

hey Don, i too come from Kingston, Ont.and played midget hockey against the rat. obviously our carreers went in different directions but this is not why i'm writing: i have 2 suggestions 1) icing-players who are racing to touch up an iced puck must come to a complete stop at the goal line before touching up, failure to do so results in a 2 minute penalty and of course interference with anohther players progress to be called 2)to increase goal scoring: reduce the size of the goal tenders catching glove: make it a trapper again instead of a second blocker, that is where the big differenvce in goals being stopped resides

i really hope this gets to you Grapes

Can you confirm that Bobby Orr had the puck behind his own net with just ten seconds left in the Chicago-Boston game on March 20, 1969? and then he scored at 19:59 to tie the game 5-5 and break the record for most goals in a season by a defenceman? This is what I remember, if so, Coast to Coast, Shore to Shore, there was none better than Bobby Orr.

Robert Shore
Coquitlam, BC

I have heard Don CHerry mention that his father or grandfather, fought at the battle of Vimy Ridge. I have recorded a song about the battle and would like to send him a copy, but I don't have an address. Could you help me out. Thanks Bud.

Hello
You are The Best!!!
G'night

Absolutely, the Canucks need to re-sign Pyatt, he's just coming into his own, they need to sign him and sign him quickly, besides my daughter thinks he's gorgeous

You know how devestating if Bertuzzi and Sundin in one line, that's 500 pounds

Hey Don, my name is shayden, great shows, I love watching you. I have one of your DVD's it's called Don Cherry 10 and 11 special collecters edition. I will be wathcing the playoffs but unfortunatly my leafs didn't make it and I know you like the leafs too so your pretty upset as well.

Hi Don,
I am sending you a website for Cpl.Aaron Williams Guest Book. We would really appreciate it if you would sign this book.
Thank You

Check the tapes guys Alfredson was offside on that last goal.

Canucks Could sign Taylor Pyatt or they Could Trade him for a good defenseman

Just wanted to say what a great job everone at HNIC is doing. I think Jim Hughson is the best play by play guy. Love Ron and Grapes. Why is it X-Goalies make such good comentators, Like Kelly Hrudey and John Garrett? Millens Ok.

Hey Don & Ron:
Love HNIC, I've been a hockey fan since Scottie Bowman coached the Habs. Now,we all know what team is your favourite at HNIC, but PLEASE do we have to watch the Leafs every Saturday. Living in the west and of course being a die-hard Canucks fan, I sure get tired of the Leafs weekend after weekend..And what is is going to take for the 'nucks to get some respect out east!!
Love you guys, GO CANUCKS GO!!!

I do not wish to return to the clutch and grab days but the referees have become the games biggest liability. I don't think I can stand another 5 on 3. There are simply too many soft penalties which have no bearing on the game. Hockey needs referees who have played the game and understand what is important and how to allow a game to reach a
controlled level of mayhem. What I have seen this year is a joke.

Dear Mr. Cherry, is it just me or is vancouver receiving no support from any sports network or website. Some analysts say that the Canucks have been a streaking team and that they are not playoff contenders. Well, for one, we have one of the best records in the league since Christmas, and a playoff-type defense system which has shut down the likes of the sharks, red wings and the predators. GIVE THE NUCKS SOME RESPECT!

Dear Mr. Cherry,

I think it's time you were called to task with some of your comments. I recall you repeatedly putting down Gretzky on Coach's Corner until half-way through the season when Gretz scored 92 goals. (Apparently, he wasn't tough enough for your tastes.) I also remember you yelling at Ron MacLean when the Leafs traded Wendell Clark to Quebec for a young Mats Sundin. (Leafs got Wendel back a couple of seasons later anyway, although his back was finished.) And who can forget your comments when Sidney Crosby, then a junior star, scored a 'fancy' goal from behind the net - you said someone would 'break his arm' if he tried that move in the NHL (resulting in Sidney's father asking you to leave his son alone).

Any comments on any of this?

well i also have seen a lot of one sided refereeing, and now two of the most popular teams in canada are out of the playoffs way to go mr bettman,good luck to the american teams,hope the t.v ratings go right down the tube in canada....

Here we are again with one sided refereeing against Toronto. In the first period during a Toronto power play both Wellwood and Tucker get flattened in front of Montreal's net and no call but early in the second period Gill does the same thing to Higgins while on the penalty kill and lo' and behold there's the ref calling it to send Toronto down two men. In my opinion if the NHL wants more TV ratings they are going to have to clean up the officiating. This has been the worst year I have ever seen for lopsided refereeing (regardless of the teams playing)and inconsistent calls. I already don't watch as much as I used to and if things don't get better I'll probably stop watching the sissy("NEW") NHL all together.

Signed Fed-Up NHL fan (bring back the old NHL!)

Nice to see you folks in Vancouver but...
PieHat, BieSka, Lulongo, Seedeens???
C'mon Don!
Sheesh...

Is it just me or does it seem like Canadian teams seem to get the raw deal when it comes to refereeing? Last game Naslund's goal is disallowed for kicking it in when it was obviously directed in. Today Luongo's penalty and two two men advantages for San Jose. At least Matt Cooke had the guts to say the truth. Does the NHL want the US teams to do better than ours or what?

I think Roberto is going to crack under the playoff pressure.

Hello Donald, I just wanted to say that I miss the old style fighters. Guys like Wendel Clark, Cam Neely and Bobby Probert. Those guys never backed down from any one and the could score thirty goals or get 50+ points in a season. If guys want to be superstars in the nhl there going to have to back themselves up. Not having some 250 pound goon do it for them. Thats a real hockey player.

I just wanted to email hopefully this can get sent to don cherry or the broadcasters so you people and everyone can know something. My father is A Huge montreal fan and im a HUGE toronto fan, so last Night we made a bet that if toronto wins I get to shave his head bald but if montreal wins then my hair gets shaved. Just something i wanted to send in and i would appreciate it if u can pass this on to don cherry who im a huge fan of.

Hey Don! I was wondering what you thought of Brodeur breaking Parents' record? I believe Brodeur is the best goalie on the planet right now and one of the best to ever play. However, I think there should be an asterick by the record. Here are a couple of the reasons why:
Parent had no chance at an overtime/shootout victory because it simply didn't exist; Brodeur has 13 OT/Shootout wins.
Parents' season was 78 games, in which he played 73 games; Brodeurs' season is 82, in which he played 78.
I'm not knocking Marty but I believe they shouldshare the record because ofthese differences. Please let me know what you think.

Hey Don! I was wondering what you thought of Brodeur breaking Parents' record? I believe Brodeur is the best goalie on the planet right now and one of the best to ever play. However, I think there should be an asterick by the record. Here are a couple of the reasons why:
Parent had no chance at an overtime/shootout victory because it simply didn't exist; Brodeur has 13 OT/Shootout wins.
Parents' season was 78 games, in which he played 73 games; Brodeurs' season is 82, in which he played 78.
I'm not knocking Marty but I believe they shouldshare the record because ofthese differences. Please let me know what you think.

Hey Ron and Don
Ed is right about the Chicago ownership. I miss the "Smash Mouth" Hawks of old before ownership traded all the great players after the new stadium was built. Thats why I started watching the Leafs, cuz they remind me of the old hawk teams. If Montreal and Ottawa were as exciting as the Leafs to watch maybe they would be on HNIC more often. Keep up the good work Don. Bettman has to resign for making the NHL a mess. If Colin Campbell needs to learn what a sucker punch looks like, have him watch the NBA. Its not a sucker punch when the person is facing you and you punch him. I feel the end results or injury are dictating the penalty not the act it self. Why are guys retaliating or fighting for clean hits or checks?
Grapes Thanks for educating the fans and the NHL excutives on how the game should be played.

How come we get to always watch the leafs on saturday night, as a Mtl Habs fan, i would have appreciated to see more games from either Ottawa or Mtl. Shouldn't it be going by zones across Canada? It's weird that the 2nd game of the 2 header is never from the same city, they alternate all winter long between Calgary Vancouver or Edmonton, i think it should be the same for the first one. Sylvain

I love hockey night in Canada! Unfortunately I only get to see it every now and then via the NHL Center Ice package(gotta watch my Rangers where ever I am), but it's always great to here you guys. Don you are the king! ha ha. You crack me up every time! Ron and Don are brilliant! I sure hope one day a US network will put you guys on full time. I'll take you guys over those clowns at ESPN any day! (Not Melrose though, he still makes me laugh... probably because I can only picture him with a mullet though). Cheers guys! Can't wait for the playoff banter!

Ok, one more time, the name is BIEKSA, not bieska....

Hey Ron and Don!
I think that it is kind of funny that people are talking about fighting and if it should be out of the NHL when there is soooo much else wrong. The icing rule has to be changed ASAP, I like you am real tired of seeing people getting injured over such a stupid thing.
As far as the fighting goes, I was watching some of my old tapes the other day, the fights that are going on now are nothing to what it use to be like, just go to the Youtube and type in hockey fights, and the evidence is right there! Lets just focus in on the playoffs and all of the positives for now, I always appreciate your views, keep up the good work me!
God Bless, and thanks for all of the support for the troops and all of the police and fire fighters that given up their lives for us!

No matter how good Don and Grapes are, HNIC will always be a local, second rate program as long as EVERY SINGLE SATURDAY GAME has the Leafs in it. When will we be ever get to see Montreal or Ottawa?

My daughter is a goalie and asked the question about how the statistics are gathered in almost real time for all players. If you look at NHL.com, they post shot types, shot distance, ice time, give-aways, take-aways, etc. There must be a combination of automated information gathering and people assigned to specific players. It would be a great segment to share with hockey fans. My father was a goalie in Kirkland Lake in late 1950's and played for Flin Flon & tried out with Detroit Red Wings. I have some original letters from Jack Adams to my dad. His grand daughter is carrying on the goalie tradition and she would love to help describe the statistic gathering segment during an NHL game.

Keep up the great work!
A Fan of Canadian Hockey Players

How about this Don: let's hear your picks if you were about to put yourself in Andy Murray's position - pick Canada's players for the upcoming World Championship and defend your choices.

I THOUGHT I HEARD GRAPES SAY THAT AS OF MARCH 31 THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS, OVER THE LAST 41 GAMES, HAVE ONLY LOST FIVE. COULD YOU PLEASE HELP CLEAR THIS UP BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE A PHENOMINAL STAT.

Hi Ron & Don!

See Don, women such as Amy Poehler and I still think you're awesome. Remember, you only tease and rib the ones you like...Keep up the passion, our family loves it!!
Your Italian-Irish fan, Kylie.

Ron and Don,
Thanks so much for HNIC. I watch every Sat. night, and when I can't I catch it on the net. There are fans in the USA, but it is tough for us in Chicago, when our owner runs our great franchise into the ground! So, I am a Leafs fan, way down here!!! Keep up the great work guys!!!

I agree that Pyatt needs to be locked up,but I also think that Pyatt has seen what has happened to Carter since leaving Vancouver and the Sedins.There is only so much cap money and who do you choose,we have seen the defence stagger with Salo,Ohlund and Mitchell out.We need to lock up Bieksa and possibly Sopel as well as Pyatt.The scary thing is with Naslund becoming invisible in the scoring fromt,how do we get that 6 mil back in the form of a return?
Makes you wish we signed Neidermier instead of Naslund doesnt it?

I will keep it short the fact is Don Cherry says a lot of things that make sense and does know what he is talking about most of the time. The problem is he picks on any player that is from outside NA which is totally unfair. He doesn't even pronounce their names properly eg Pocahontus and Andropov....cmon that's a joke those guys deserve more respect than that!

Hi Don,

I've noticed the lengths that you go to to avoid doing any kind of tribute to the exceptional talents of this 19 year old kid.

If Staal were leading the scoring race, or if his stats were anywhere near crosby's first year, you'd be featuring him every night. Even Staal was embarassed the night you had him on and called the kid a "super star."

Any kind of hyperbole to avoid talking about sidney.

HI Don I am making a lamp using one of the Molson bubba cans with your body on it, what I need is a picture of your head to put on the shade.where could I fine one or could you send me one.THANX... FRED

I missed your comments re Bobby Orr's 59th birthday on March 20th.
In 1969 I travelled to Boston at the old Gardens and saw him notch his 21st goal on his 21st birthday at 19:59 of the 3rd period to tie Bobby Hull's Black Hawks 5-5 and to break Sydney's Flash Howlett's record of 20 goals by a D that stood since 1944. Being one of the fortunate few that was In Moscow on Sept 28th to see Paul Henderson's score with 34 seconds to go, I rank that as the 2nd best goal I ever witnessed in person.Where do you rank it?

Hi Ron and Don;

Your thoughts on an idea to speed up the game. This rule will eliminate stoppages of play on icings and offsides.

On the infraction the linesman blows his whistle. The non-offending teams zone is then cleared of offending team players and the non-offending team takes posession of the puck behind it's own net, the linesman then blows his whistle again. The non-offending team is then given five seconds or until the puck crosses the offending teams blue line before the offending team can touch the puck.

one mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi, four mississippi, five mississippi!!! If they don't cooperate there's a face off in the offending teams zone or even a delay of game penalty. The last 30 seconds of each period would be exempt from this rule.

I realize that it is very difficult to teach an old dog a new trick… still I think that someone could perhaps explain to that Cherry guy that his arrogance is offending lot of people. It is painful to watch him to abuse Ron MaClean. And I do not want to get into his abuse of anybody with non-Irish names.

No, I cannot call him and idiot, or clown, and I realize the necessary creativity of HNIC to keep him controversial… those ratings bring more dollars to all associated with HNIC.
That Cherry guy is like a bully beating on everyone without any repercussion. I wish Ron MacLean had free hand to counter that ‘bully-ism’… ratings would really go up.

Bjorn Voden

Dear Mr Cherry,
Keep up the good work. I have read a few comments and I need to say for the record that the NHL has been watered down since the Todd Bertuzzi vs Steve Moore incident. Steve Moore gave a face rearranging elbow to Marcus Naslund which required at least 20 stitches to put his nose back into place. Todd Bertuzzi attempted to discuss this issue with Steve Moore and Mr Moore chose not to discuss this with Mr Bertuzzi. Mr Bertuzzi punched Steve Moore in the back of the head when he skated away from Mr Bertuzzi and unfortunately Steve Moore suffered a serious injury. Marcus Naslund also has scars on his face from Steve Moore's elbow as well.....hmmm. Ever since this incident the powers of the NHL have allowed cheap shot artists like Steve Moore to take over the game of the NHL so bring back the enforcers like to Todd Bertuzzi and we will not see anymore carnage like we do now. Taking a stick and trying to decapitate another player is not very nice..in fact I think in the real world it would be called assault with a deadly weapon with a charge of two years less a day in jail... then the enforcers cannot come out and even the score and the stick swinger aka decapitator gets a five game suspension. Good job powers of the NHL and refs keep it up.
Faye MQ

Don

Leafs-Penguns

I listened to your thought that Andropov gave up the puck out of fear the Gary Roberts was fast approaching. When Ron pointed he was possibly setting up a shot on the empty net for Sundin, he must have confused him with a North American player. Right Don?

Don Cherry is the smartest man in hockey!I think he should have more say in the NHL in order to keep it as entertaining as junior hockey.I watch a lot of jun.A (nan. clippers) since the lock out and am starting to enjoy it more. The NHL shouldn`t change the best game on earth much more (fighting)and if they do they should consult with Don. We can trust Don would never make a stupid decision on our game that we all love so much but have so little controll over when changes are made.

Dear Mr Cherry,
Thanks for another great coaches corner you always are entertaining. To comment on Mr Froese's last comment is that everyone knows that women are discriminated against in hockey. It is a fact. I went to buy some skates and the salesperson asked me what size does your son need for his skates and I had to say to his disbelief three times that I yes a girl needed a pair of hockey skates. It was comical and I did end up buying a pair of skates and some bats and balls for my daughters baseball team. So there all you people who do not think women should play sports. Also in the rink change rooms..players do need their privacy and respect. If you are not the coach please stay out of the locker room. Thank you very much and I hope you all have the kindness to respect my opinion and we can always agree to disagree.
Ciao for now
AA

Hello Don:

I think you would have liked to see Gary Roberts come to Toronto at the deadline. Please comment on whether or not you would have given up Steen or Stajan. What about a first round draft pick?

Thanks

I'm the father of Casey Froese and if Don Cherry is going to comment on the situation in Windsor regarding the discrimination of girl hockey players I like to explain to Don the curcumstances.I have been a hockey coach for 15 years and understand the importance of team chemistry. This is not just about girls being in the dressing room with the boys, this is about bonding hockey players together to be a successful team. If a dress code were in place there would be no issue of gender. Plus the fact that there is suppose to be adult supervision in the dressing room at all times. If minor hockey is suppose to be a family affair then how will this effect single mothers that have to take their son to the games and practises but not allowed to go in the dressing room to help her son???As far as the ten minutes before the game and after the game for team bonding as some board members think is enough for these girls is a joke. Let me be clear also that travel and house league hockey are two very different experences.I would like the opportunity to talk to Mr. Cherry if he feels a need to get involved. I'm doing this for my 11 old daughter who loves hockey but feels left out.

Thank you
Glenn Froese

Don.. goalies in the NHL for the most part are great passers. Has there been any conscious efforts by teams to shoot the puck in so that the goalie has to play the puck on his backhand rather than shooting side?

Further to this if he passes it on his backhand (often blind), he has to then cross his feet upon returning to the net. His only safe outlet (behind the net to a team mate) can be easily forechecked..

Hi Don,
I was wondering where you got that great Killer Whale hat. My son Eddy would love to have a hat like that. Maybe you would sign it and send it to him?
Eddy MacKinnon
R.R.#1 St.Peter's Bay
Goose River PEI
Canada C0A 2A0

Can Don please comment on the situation in Windsor Minor Hockey Atom Division...girls and boys sharing a dressing room at ages 10 and 11. There are people in the organization who feel it is appropriate and others who do not.