Canadian hockey pundit fired over remarks on immigrants

OTTAWA: A legendary Canadian ice hockey commentator was fired Monday from a longtime broadcasting gig over an on-air rant chiding new immigrants for not wearing poppies to honor fallen soldiers and veterans.

Don Cherry was sacked because of the "divisive remarks" he made during a break in a National Hockey League game on Saturday.

"Sports bring people together. It unites us, not divides us," Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley said.

Cherry, immediately recognizable in his flamboyant custom-made suits, has courted controversy with his outspoken manner and opinions during intermission segments of Hockey Night in Canada for nearly four decades.

His comments about fighting in hockey, women journalists in dressing rooms, and FrenchCanadians have frequently landed him in trouble.

But the 85-year-old former NHL player and coach's latest tirade provoked a big backlash from the public, politicians and the National Hockey League.

In it he singled out people he believed to be immigrants in the Toronto area for not wearing a poppy on their lapel for Remembrance Day, and in turn not supporting veterans. That holiday, known as Veterans Day in the US, was celebrated Monday.

So many complaints were filed with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council that the watchdog said it had to shut down its online reporting tool because they had "exceeded the CBSC's technical processing capabilities."