Don Cherry Biography: Everything You Need To Know

Quick Facts

In the world of Hockey, Don Cherry is one of the few men who have seen and done it all. He was a professional hockey player before going on to coach in the NHL. Presently, he works as an ice hockey commentator and sports writer. Also referred to as Grapes, he is a seen as one of the greatest Canadians with views that hold beyond sports to politics and general social life.

Don Cherry’s Biography

Inasmuch as he is popular as Don Cherry, it was as Donald Stewart Cherry that the iconic hockey star was born on February 5, 1934, in Kingston, Ontario. His father, Delmar Cherry was an amateur athlete and an electrician. His mother was Maude Cherry.

A lover of hockey, Cherry began playing since he was little and he spent his junior hockey years playing for Windsor Spitfires. By 1954, he had already dropped out of school and had signed for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL). While he was a great player, he only got to play a single NHL game in 1955 when he was called up by the Boston Bruins during the playoffs. This was because of a baseball injury that he suffered which kept him from making the National Hockey League.

His younger brother Dick Cherry who also played hockey, on the other hand, made the NHL where he spent two seasons playing for the Philadelphia Flyers. Don Cherry spent more than 15 seasons in the Minor Leagues before retiring in 1969 and then going into the construction business. By 1971, he was back to the sports that he loved but only to play for a short while before he was made a coach of the Rochester Americans. Soon afterward, he won the Coach of the year award. In his third season, he won Coach of the Year of the AHL.

Following his good run with Rochester, he got moved to the NHL where he was the head coach of the Boston Bruins. He brought in a different style of play altogether, something that would help the Bruins win the division title for four straight seasons running from 1975–76 through 1978–79. He made a record of having 11 players scoring 20 or more goals in a single team in the 1977–78 season.

A relationship issue with the General Manager of Bruins Harry Sinden later got Cherry fired in 1979 when he had too many men on the ice in the semifinal game of the Stanley Cup semifinal. Next, he moved to Colorado Rockies but by the end of the season, he was out of work again with the team landing at the last of the league table. With that, his coaching career came to an end. However, it marked the start of his broadcasting career with CBC in 1980. Many years later, he would be hired by ESPN.

Everything You Need To Know

Beyond his early life and his playing career, here is everything you should know about him:

1. Wife

Don Cherry has been married twice thus far. The first was in 1957 to Rosemarie Cherry. The two were so close that she went from just being his wife to being his personal manager, accountant, and many other things. Following a battle with liver cancer, Rosemarie died in 1997 and in 1999, Don Cherry got married again to Luba Cherry.

2. Children

From his first marriage, Cherry had two children, Tim Cherry, and Cindy Cherry. When Tim was 13, he suffered from kidney failure and Cindy who was the elder of the two donated one of hers to Tim.

3. Style

Among most of the things that can be left out about Cherry, his sense of style will not make the list. He is a very colorful individual whose sense of dressing is interesting.

According to him, he got that from his father who is remembered for his made-to-measure three-piece suits, Homburg hat, cigarette holder, and a gold watch. The younger Cherry said he was always proud walking with his father.

4. NHL

About his inability to make a career in the National Hockey League, Cherry said he had always prayed to God to make him a hockey player but he forgot to tell him he wanted to play in the NHL.

5. Net Worth

For a man who has been involved in a lot of things from playing hockey to coaching and then being a broadcaster among other things, it will be expected that Don Cherry should have a good fortune. Well, he does. His net worth is estimated at $14 million.

6. Height

Cherry is a man with a good height and a good build. He stands at 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm) tall while his body weight is 180 lb (82 kg).

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.