Although he didn’t agree with it, Don Cherry found a silver lining in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ decision to skip their fan salute at centre ice following their victory at the Air Canada Centre Thursday night.
In an appearance on Coach’s Corner with Ron MacLean, Cherry explained his rationale.
“Now, these guys going on the ice know they’ll never, ever take a night off at home because the crowd will drive them nuts,” said Cherry. “They will be ready every game now because they put pressure on themselves.”
Many are of the belief that the Leafs were sending a message following Tuesday’s ugly 9-2 loss to the Nashville Predators, prompting more than one fan to throw their Leafs jersey on the ice.
While Cherry certainly understood the Leafs’ displeasure with the jersey throwing, he thought it was silly for the club to hold the whole fan base responsible.
“Everybody thinks that this guy’s a passionate fan,” he said. “This guy is a jerk that threw it on, that doesn’t care about the Leafs at all. He just wants to get his picture … that picture, ‘I did that — look, I did that.’ He’s a jerk, he’s not a fan at all.
“They get blown out 9-2 and wonder why they get booed? It’s unbelievable that they would be dumb enough to go out and do something like that.”
The Leafs have been adamant that they did not intend to snub their fans.
