Ron MacLean made his return to "Hockey Night in Canada" on Saturday, using the first intermission segment that used to be reserved for "Coach's Corner" to address his part in the polarizing situation surrounding Don Cherry's firing from the popular program last week.
MacLean opened Saturday's broadcast by calling it "the end of an era" after Cherry's dismissal and admitted to having "obviously mixed emotions" in the pre-game segment. The longtime host — who on Friday squashed rumours of him leaving HNIC any time soon — kept his remarks on Cherry brief during the pre-game show, promising to address the situation in more detail during the first intermission.
He did just that, delivering a near five-minute monologue to the audience and to former broadcast partner Cherry, who sat next to MacLean on "Coach's Corner" for over three decades prior to being let go for making insensitive comments about immigrants in Canada.
MORE: Why was Don Cherry fired from Sportsnet?
"Listen, you know the story," MacLean said to begin the first intermission segment, which opened with no music or graphics. "The Coach's Corner is no more and it's [been] 34 years. Look, we are all hurting, I have collapsed a hundred times this week if not more. We're all disappointed."
MacLean stressed that the relationship between him and Cherry is fine, but that the issue at hand has nothing to do with their friendship.
"It's not about Don and me. It was clearly about something bigger," MacLean said. "I was kind of processing what he was saying and thinking — I wasn't in an ideological bubble at all. I might have been in a friendship bubble, but because I was kind of praying that I don't think I'm hearing trouble but I might be hearing trouble. Anyway, it was done."
"And then you call us on it which I thank you for because that's the new world," MacLean continued, highlighting the role social media plays in keeping broadcasters in check. "You don't have a pulpit like Coach's Corner or the CBC News or the New York Times or The Guardian that just pronounces and that's it. Now, you have in real-time, social media and kind of a democracy happening, and so you caught it and knowing what to overlook is wisdom, right? And I, I felt so bad, and I apologized immediately. And Don? You know, Don. A bit defiant.
"There were steps that needed to be taken because of what had been said by Don, and he didn't want to do those steps."
MacLean revealed that he thought of "falling on my sword, too," but decided to stay on at HNIC and with broadcast network Sportsnet because quitting would infer that he agreed with Cherry's comments. Instead, MacLean said he chose "principle over friendship" before speaking directly to Cherry on the broadcast and calling the 85-year-old a "fantastic human being."
"By the way, Don Cherry — we have communicated. We talked a lot on Monday and then by phone. I was there in person and then by phone and he sent me a note [Friday]," MacLean said. "But, Don said, 'Ron, a lot of people will be watching this for a while. Don't go too far,' which made me smile of course — Don Cherry telling me not to go too far."