Crackpot will be thrilled by this news
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 3:53 am
Don Cherry returning to HNIC on multi-year deal
Don Cherry is returning to Hockey Night in Canada next season.
The 82-year-old star of Coach's Corner has agreed to a multi-year deal, Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL properties, told The Canadian Press on Monday.
Cherry's two-year deal with Rogers, which owns Sportsnet, expires at the end of the playoffs.
In 2013, Rogers signed a 12-year, $5.2-billion deal for NHL rights in Canada. They took a ratings hit this spring, however, when no Canadian team made the playoffs.
Moore hinted there could be changes coming in the wake of the low-rated playoff run.
"All I'll say is, you tweak as you go," he said at the Rogers programming launch.
He wouldn't offer any specifics on what the tweaks could involve. George Stroumboulopoulos is currently on a five-year deal while Ron MacLean, the man he replaced in the main host's chair who now fronts Sunday's "Hometown Hockey" broadcast, is in the middle of a four-year contract.
Rogers has revamped hockey coverage in this country since taking the reins from CBC, replacing MacLean with Stroumboulopoulos in 2014. The move has been controversial with Stroumboulopoulos seen by some fans as an outsider. Cherry's role has also been reduced under Rogers' leadership, though he and MacLean continue to host their intermission segment "Coach's Corner."
