Ron MacLean says he and Don Cherry are back in touch

Ron MacLean and Don Cherry may never work together again, but they’ve rekindled their personal relationship in recent months.

During an interview with John Shannon on The Bob McCown Podcast on Friday, MacLean revealed that he and Cherry are back on speaking terms. The longtime host of Coach's Corner told Shannon that there had been several instances during which he'd contacted the 89-year-old over the past year.

“He usually phones back but you know, Don is not big on technology,” MacLean said.

MacLean outlined that within the past year, he'd reached out in January 2023, when MacLean says he offered Cherry a ride to the funeral of longtime Mississauga, Ont., mayor Hazel McCallion. MacLean also added that he, along with Sportsnet producer Kathy Broderick and former NHL player turned analyst Kevin Bieksa, contacted Cherry from Florida during the All-Star break.

MacLean also mentioned passing along his sympathies over the phone on June 1, the anniversary of the death of Cherry’s wife, Rose, and said the two still split a pair of season tickets to Toronto Maple Leafs games.

Despite the mended relationship, MacLean noted that the two were as much polar opposites off the air as they were on television.

“I mean, we would sit after a Stanley Cup playoff game in the final years watching Fox News and Trump’s speeches," MacLean explained. "Don loved those, he took great inspiration from the way Trump marketed. I was the other guy. I was what he would describe as the ‘left-wing, pinko communist kook.’"

The once-iconic Coach's Corner duo famously went through a public falling out after working together during the intermission of Hockey Night in Canada from 1986 until 2019. In November of 2019, however, Cherry was fired by Sportsnet following a racist on-air rant where he scolded Canadian immigrants — labelling them as “you people” — for not wearing red poppies on Remembrance Day.

Cherry ultimately refused to backpedal on his comments, instead opting to double down in the days following his dismissal.

In May 2022, Cherry also told Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun that he didn’t think he and MacLean would ever be friends again.