Don Cherry was insistent that the hip check from Keith Ballard that injured Corey Perry was clean.
Appearing on Coach’s Corner with Ron MacLean, Cherry defended the Minnesota Wild defenceman, who was criticized by Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau after Perry left Friday night’s game with a knee injury.
“It’s a hockey hit,” Cherry said. “ He doesn’t go that low.”
However, Cherry was ticked off about another issue.
He is firmly of the belief that when a player delivers a big hit – even if it’s clean – he better be prepared to defend himself. Those who question that fact, in his mind, don’t have an understanding of the culture of hockey.
“You don’t hit a guy like that unless you answer the bell,” he said. “You have to be. And if you don’t understand, there’s no sense in me talking about it.”
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Cherry also remembered the late, great Jean Beliveau.
“I used to see him all the time and we used to have the banquets and stuff like that he used to be there all the time. It was unbelievable. What a guy. Class guy. You keep hearing class all the time, class, and he was. Regal or something like that.”
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“He always had time for everybody. That’s the thing everybody talks about, Dick Irvin talks about, he always had time.”
Cherry said the first time he ever met Beliveau was when he played against him as a member of the Boston Bruins. And he even shared a picture he keeps with an attacking Beliveau and a defending Cherry.
“My claim to fame that I always kept the picture. I knocked Jean down here.”
