Cherry saw the Europeans as soft and well you know he was right in that time...He was a you have to beat em in the alley type of guy. Thats the way it was in the minors where he spent all but 1 game of his career.
Everybody outlives his usefulness and has an expiry date in his profession. Cherry lasted longer than most.
Much respect to John Tavares for his playing for his country after a so so personal season where he was subjected to much criticism
Right until what time?
Certainly not by the early to mid 90's, when Euro's of all nations became more prevalent in the NHL -- and were successful and better defenders in general.
I'll trust the hockey mind of someone like Scotty Bowman, who heavily invested in Euro's at the time, over Don Cherry.
Grit and hitting, does not equal heart or defensive ability. Cherry never saw that. Not to say you don't want a mix of that on your team either.
He said the same "soft" crap for the entire decade despite them having a bunch of NHL sccuess.. Once I got to my later teen years and was able to think for myself I lost all interest in him as a hockey analyst.. and it had nothing to do with the "politics" of the statements or his views. It was how poor they were logically from an on ice perspective.
Cherry saw Euro's as soft and in general, but not as direct, most French Canadiens as well. Look at the Champs of the NHL in the 90'sto see how wrong he was during this period.
