Back To His Roots?

Plants that are unwanted, often hard to kill, and return are being eradicated are often categorized as weeds. While no one would ever believe that grapes are a weed, it seems that the man called "Grapes" keeps coming back and reinventing himself after it seemed that he might be gone for good. Don Cherry, fresh off being fired from Hockey Night in Canada by Sportsnet, announced today that he would bring back his brand of entertainment under the name of his 1980s TV show as Don Cherry's Grapevine begins as a podcast starting tomorrow.

The 85 year-old Cherry will reportedly record the podcast with his son, Tim Cherry, and he plans on addressing his dismissal by Sportsnet on the first episode of the podcast. According to Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun, Don's grandson, Del, will also co-host episodes as Cherry plans on producing a new episode each Monday that can be found on Spotify and other streaming services during the NHL season.

His first episode, however, will be released tomorrow, and it sounds as if Don is already pretty excited about the episode in being able to clear the air over his removal from the first intermission feature known as Coach's Corner.

"But that's not all we talked about," Cherry told Warmington. "We are talking hockey, of course. It's going to be terrific. In this one I am talking about The Rocket, one of the all-time greats."

The Cherry-produced podcast will have none of the restrictions that he found himself operating under as a member of HNiC and Sportsnet, so fans of the outspoken former coach will get everything and more from Cherry as his seven-minute segment can be expanded to as long as Cherry wants. If he wants to rip Quebecois players for wearing visors or if he wants to talk about Swedes playing soft or if he wants to rip any other segment of the population for any reason, there's no one there who will stop him from his rants and diatribes this time.

There's also a chance that this podcast will give Cherry a chance to hone his delivery for other offers that could come his way. While it may be a stretch to assume he'd be back on any TV broadcast regularly, I could see Don getting a regular spot on some radio show where Don talks about one major hockey topic per week from his perspective. He'd likely do well on a SiriusXM program where they have some additional flexibility on what is discussed, but I think this podcast could help his brand find some solid footing after his poor wording one week ago.

Whatever the case may be, those who screamed murder when Don was fired can now find him on their favorite audio streaming service. If you need your fill of Grapes, tune into Spotify tomorrow!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!