Despite playing only one game in the National Hockey League, Don Cherry should be in the Hall of Fame, Orr believes. That Cherry isn’t, Orr writes, is “one of the greatest oversights in the history of the game.” Orr devotes a whole chapter in his book to the man who has achieved his greatest fame as the flamboyant, garishly attired hockey analyst of the CBC’s “Hockey Night in Canada” game telecasts. Hockey has never had a better ambassador in Orr’s estimation. Cherry did coach six years in the NHL, including five with the Bruins in the late 1970s. He wound up with a career 250-153-77 mark (the NHL counts regular-season ties), but with no Stanley Cups to his resume, Cherry isn’t a serious candidate. But when you consider all he has done for hockey causes, including raising money, generating interest in the sport, and making visits to hospitals and military bases, Orr concludes that Cherry’s “importance is as great of that of any player, past or present.”
CARLOS OSORIO/AP
