FiredUp Network
Thursday, August 29: Don Cherry's Grapevine Podcast
All right, let's go Hello everybody and welcome to this week's edition of the Don Cherry Grapevine podcast this week We're going to run a 1982 interview that dad had with Freddy Cheryl who was the coach of the Broad Street bullies Won two Stanley cups and this was shot 1982 when dad was doing the Don Cherry Grapevine show in Hamilton and during this interview the courts dad and Freddy Cheryl probably coached the two toughest teams the Boston Bruins in the 70s and mid 70s and late 70s And Freddy Cheryl who coached about sheep bully in the early 70s and boy. Let me tell you they had some battles So look during the interview. They'll be talking about a few things They'll be talking a lot about fighting to be talking about violence. They'll be talking about sending players on the ice to fight and The one thing they do get into a little bit is the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers versus the Soviet Red Army exhibition game right in the middle of the of the season and It was a big it was a big deal because it was the Stanley Cup champs versus the Red Army and The Flyers handled him pretty easily winning 4-1 and a Freddy goes in at how they beat him, but they basically ran him out of the building as as much as anything and also they'll talk about Kate Smith who used to sing God Bless America before Very important Flyers games. She would come on the ice and sing God Bless America And I don't think she I think she was like eight known when that happens and they talk about pyramid power when the Leafs and the Flyers met the playoffs and when the Leafs coach used to put pyramids underneath the bench thinking that that was going to help them beat the Philadelphia Flyers and Freddy jokes about that a little bit. So so without further ado here is a 1982 interview with Don Cherry talking with the Brods Street bullies coach Fred Shiro They got close You're right Don. In fact, you're never wrong Two best coaches right here and I go side off right all the time You know I understand you're going to be a color man for the New Jersey Devils this year, right? That's true. I did my first broadcast a couple days ago and I will say it's much easier than coaching You don't have to wear worry whether you win or lose You don't sweat at all You get into the game for nothing that's one thing Listen, you're going to you working to listen guy asked me What's the hardest job in hockey and you know a lot of people said Montreal a lot of people said here in Toronto A lot of you know, I think the hardest job is your job being the color man for the New Jersey Devils Well, I've been called worse than that in my lifetime Listen, yeah, you think that's tough. Let me tell you how would you like to be Billy McMillan? That's the coach the general manager He's won a grand total of 25 games here. He's got this guy doing color and he's won two Stanley cups How would you like him down there telling them what to do? I think he doesn't have a bad job. Anyhow, I tell you not like it one thing I don't understand all those great series you went over to Russia you studied the Russian theory I Understand you paid your way over to Finland last year to learn it And you know, you've never been asked even as a consultant or have you been for these Canada Cup world tournaments and that how come? Why don't they ask you? Well, maybe they don't know my phone number. Well, I don't know about that I actually I studied the Russians since 1947. That's when they first started playing hockey and And the reason I went to Finland I want to learn more about hockey in fact I still may accept a job in Europe coaching or Asia especially China China's gone crazy about hockey It's helped for me too. Maybe I'll find something But anyway, I'd like to do a study of every country in the world that plays hockey and find out why do they do things Definitely than we do and why do they think they do things better than we do is that their lifestyle or what? And then I'd like to write a book on the subject. Well, what about China? Do they do they have a lot planned? I've never even heard they just started hockey about three years ago And they'll they will definitely be in the next Olympics not in the top level of course How do you think they do against your Broad Street bullies? Well, no comment Listen on those things I use we used the codes now you heard about Don Perry last year about the trouble He had and he sent out The kid Mulvey out there and don't dance and all that did you ever send Schultz or those guys out to get Le Fleur or anybody like that? You say go out and get those guys or what did you do with that? Let's face it Fred. They did go out and do a pretty good number all right Don. I'll tell you the truth Never in my life. I've ever asked a man to fight in fact the first words I ever say in training camp if I ever ask you to fight I want you to break that stick right over my head I have no right to ask you to fight and I never asked Schultz to fight once in fact My biggest job was to stop him from fighting and even in the book. He he wrote I didn't read it, but they told me he claimed that I'd never told him to fight and I coached Reggie Fleming who was even worse than Schultz and I never told him to fight either But there are certain people who are abrasive by nature They're born that way and you're not going to change them and when they finish hockey They're still going to be in trouble later on in life even if they do well in life They're going to run it to various problems because of their nature But I still think to be a successful team and you had some abrasive guys You want a winner you got to have four or five abrasive people well That would makes me laugh with the when they talk about the little pirouette's center race and everything Everybody's got and look with Al Arbor Scott. He's got that nice drum to Nellie Gilly skies like that. I mean they're the guys in the corners They're tougher than anybody in the league and you know you're not going to win unless you have them like you said Yes, and that's why Montreal Canadiens were tough for years when you look at their lineup They didn't fight much so they didn't have to because they had the toughest guys in hockey Yeah, and that's why they beat us all the time. Hey, what do you clap this life joint? Now I look you define to me. I read in the papers I hear all this stuff of a violence and all you know the writers and everything You tell me what is violence? Well, it's so happened We held a little conference in Finland and I was there with some of these so-called educators and We talked for about a half hour on the subject of violence. I Says in the history of hockey professional hockey. There's only been one death and that was an accident in football There are 25 deaths every year year in and year out now Which is more violent the only reason it looks violent and And the only reason there are fights there would be fights in football is because The players have clubs in their hands. They got skates that are like razor blades They're running they they there are being run into goalposts. They run into boards that don't give like a cement wall Pucks are flying at them at 125 miles an hour If you put 11 football players who are bred for violence. They're brought up to be violent They're taught to be violent with clubs in their hands and let them play a game Then I'm immediately gonna put all my money in a funeral parlor. God for sure I guess it's just the thing to do on hockey is to knock it and say it's violent and the the whole thing because that's all you read about Everywhere and you hear about and as you know, there's not the hitting in the game now There used to be no definitely not in fact with the helmets now Everybody is they say with the helmet and in college hockey the mask there were now You know what it really means it tells a man it tells a boy wearing a mask. He says I am a man now Hit me I'll fight Joe loose if you let me have a mask and I think that I won't my son plays college hockey And I don't want to see him play because it's too vicious. Oh, I there's no fighting But they're clubbing each other to death. I went down to see Queen's University play Western I think it was I walked in I sat down. I never saw so many head first in the boards cross checking spearing and I think wrote Colorado We played the University of Denver out there the guys told me they never had so many spears and hits in their heads in their life And you try to tell people about these masks and you and I are breeders of violence that we don't know I think we've only been in the game 30 40 years guys come along the last five years They know everything. Well, I like to go into a little further into violence when I was in Finland I also said and I guess it was very disturbing to the Europeans I said I would sooner play in North America Where there is the odd fight then play in Europe where there is no fighting and people are spearing you and Kicking you and kicking is the worst thing in hockey ever and they're famous for y'all Underneath you. Yeah, not only when you're down. It's unbelievable I remember the first Canadian Russian series and the TV announcer says and look at this little Russian He knocked down that great big French defenseman who weighed over 200 pounds from the Montreal Canadiens I forget his name. He says aren't these Russians powerful that Russian kicked his feet from underneath him and our player fell on his head And he's lucky he's alive. I think I'd sooner take a punch in the mouth Absolutely, then that stuff but try to tell him now. You're starting a franchise You're starting a franchise. You can pick one player in the National Hockey League today National Hockey League. Who would you pick? one player Only a 10-minute show Fred Clark Gillies Clark Gillies I thought you'd say trotchet for sure why Gillies Gillies because he's going to give your team respect He's still a pretty good hockey player and he doesn't have to fight much but he can intimidate and Nobody's going to intimidate them because they know that big man is around and I still remember in my day when I played against Gordy How and Ted Lindsey and Ted Lindsey was a meanest guy in hockey and why not big Gordy is right behind him Toughest who did Lindsey ever beat with Gordy? I was made sure he didn't get hurt for sure now You wonder that great game you beat the Russians remember that one at seven I thought seventy-six that was a memory then if I almost killed that guy. What was your game plan going into that game? We knew it was the biggest game of our lives in fact It was viewed by the biggest audience in the history of sports 350 million people all over the world and we had to win and We practiced for at least three weeks sometimes we practiced twice a day during the course of that season Maybe that's why we lost a Stanley Cup took too much out of us. It was so emotional and this was our game plan Never shoot except a score unless you're almost certain of scoring and yet we got 43 shots We'll have 43 great shots. They were good shots when we have the puck in their end. Don't worry about getting hit Because they won't hit you. That's right. Don't worry about get hold it or freeze it If you have to freeze it wonderful because we're gonna get the draw anyway They were good in draws so we control the puck more than they did and when they start the silly nonsense of Zig Zagen and curling in their zone. We just held our ground. You've got to come so they made 20 passes in their zone We wouldn't move I and we lined up for five minutes of blue line our their blue line and they couldn't proceed I don't know why they you know I when I hear something like that Why you're not asked to do something with team Canada the Canada Cup. It's beyond me. We have to go right now We're going to go over to John Allen Cameron my friends are going to ask you a few questions after the bar over at the bar John Allen let's hear it Bill and Jimmy on there got a couple of quick questions for you. Go ahead, Bill Fred Yes, can you tell me about red Kelly pyramid power and how you beat the Leafs that year the pyramid power almost destroyed us Until I went to see a famous faith healer in Philadelphia And she said she would put the hex on the pyramid and she hovered over the pyramid for 15 minutes with her hands near it And I knew we're gonna win. She says there's no doubt. We won't beat the guy like that Friend I'd like to ask a Kate Smith God bless her. Well, she on the payroll Yes, she definitely was but I didn't pay her I couldn't afford to pay her because she was getting $10,000 a game 10,000 only Yes, she was she won the Stanley Cup for us Thanks everybody for listening and Lord willing we'll be back next week with another grapevine interview You (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)