Pro celebration

I GREW UP in Canada and loved watching Don Cherry on Hockey Night In Canada. He was brash, outspoken and many times got down to the truth.

Today, he's just wrong.

The Carolina Hurricanes have been winning a lot of hockey games lately, and good for them. After the games they win, the players get together and have a goofy celebration. Those celebrations have included bowling pins, musical chairs, dunked basketballs, gone fishing, you name it. The video above is priceless.

Don Cherry, ever the hockey purist, doesn't like it. He thinks it is demeaning to the game. "Bunch of jerks!" he growled, when seeing the celebrations.

Bunch Of Jerks would be a great name for a band, or a good slogan to put on a T-shirt. Wait a second, they ARE putting it on a T-shirt! I gotta trademark some of these great ideas.

For one thing, most fans are bailing before the game ends if it isn't close, or even if it is. Let's face it, the traffic in the greater Raleigh area can be pretty brutal and if you duck out with a few minutes to play you can save a lot of time and get more sleep.

But you might miss a classic post-game celebration. Hurricanes fans are now sticking around to see what the players do next.

It's bonding the team, too. If they can do something to have a little fun and maybe relate to the fans, why not? It's sports entertainment, after all.

If your team loses to the Hurricanes and you don't like it, well, don't lose.

The other night Carolina beat the Montreal Canadiens in overtime. After the game, several players sat on the bench and did some fishing, dragging teammates along the ice and into the boat. The crowd went crazy. And right behind the Carolina bench were two Montreal fans wearing Canadiens jerseys, and they were howling and clapping like mad. They thought it was great.

There is nothing more sacred to Canadiens fans than hockey and tradition. So it tells you even they can have fun and understand what it's about.