Photo: Don_Cherry_and_Tony_Daniels.jpg: Jeremy Gilbert aka Canada Jack derivative work: Connormah via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

File No. 895139 · Adjudicated

Don Cherry

Athlete — Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and commentator

Born

1934

Birthplace

KINGSTON, ONTARIO

Citizenships

Canadianness Score

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

5.0/ 5

Weighted across 2 scored criteria

Designation

Bleeds Maple Syrup 🍁

Born, raised, and still says “out for a rip” unironically.

Scorecard

Path A — born on Canadian soil

I. Origin

Born on Canadian soil

KINGSTON, ONTARIO

Canadian parentage

Both parents Canadian

Citizenship on record

Automatic by birth

II. Residency

Formative years spent in Canada

Raised — Ontario

Lived in Canada by choice

Residency on record as an adult

Worked or filmed in Canada

Credits filed north of the 49th

III. Cultural evidence — not scored

Section III is recorded for the file only. Birth on Canadian soil already settles the matter.

Publicly claims to be Canadian

Says so, out loud

Canada claims them back

Claimed, enthusiastically

Fun fact

His flamboyant suits are the centrepiece of a permanent exhibit at Kingston's Original Hockey Hall of Fame, a hometown tribute to its most colourful export.

The verdict

Born in Kingston, Ontario, played junior hockey with the Barrie Flyers and Windsor Spitfires, coached the Bruins, and spent decades on Hockey Night in Canada in suits loud enough to be visible from space. Canada doesn't just claim him — he practically defined Saturday nights for generations of fans, eh.

Adjudicated by

The Standings Committee

Status

Final — appealable