Ron MacLean, the longtime broadcast partner of hockey commenter Don Cherry, attempted to address the derisive comments that led to Cherry’s dismissal during Saturday’s “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcast, telling the audience, “We are all hurting.”
“I have collapsed 100 times this week, if not more,” MacLean said Saturday night. “We’re all disappointed.”
Sportsnet fired Cherry on Monday, two days after his comments about immigrants sparked a firestorm. Those Nov. 9 remarks came during “Coach’s Corner,” an intermission segment during “Hockey Night in Canada” that also featured MacLean.
On the broadcast, Cherry criticized immigrants for not recognizing Remembrance Day, which is the country’s equivalent to Memorial Day.