Don Cherry Brutally Calls Out Darnell Nurse for Actions Leading to Ryan Reaves' Suspension
Although he is now 90 years old, Don Cherry is still one of the most respected and beloved people in hockey. He has now commented on Ryan Reaves' suspension for his hit on Darnell Nurse.
Just over a week ago, Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves was suspended a whopping five games for his hit to the head of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse.
The event occured as Nurse barreled around the back of his net with the puck, and Reaves took the opportunity to go inflict some pain, something that Cherry praises as his role in the NHL. Darnell Nurse, however, disagreed.
- Darnell Nurse
Cherry hit back hard, calling Nurse out for not understanding the dynamics of the game, as well as exposing him for overreacting to the effect of the hit:
- Don Cherry
Cherry's co-panelist on this podcast, former NHL enforcer Jay Rosehill, also bashed Nurse for suggesting that Reaves had intent to injure:
Darnell, you've taken off your glove to punch other players with a bare-handed fist.
Are you out there to hurt guys? No. He's playing hard and playing within the game with the game. That's what Reavo is doing.»
Here were Darnell Nurse's full comments on the hit:
With that said, even if you put yourself in a bad spot there's lots of body on a 6-foot, 4-inch player to hit and not one piece was touched other than my head.
You can argue about the intent, but there's certain guys in the league that each shift they go out there and try and go and inflict pain and I think it's pretty obvious what was going on there
It is what it is. For me, move on and get ready for coming back to keep the momentum going that was going before that.»
Whether or not this was a fair suspension doesn't matter, as the NHL department of player safety made their decision, but it certainly shows the disparity between today's NHL and that of yesteryear.
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| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 25 | 233 ANSWERS Don Cherry Brutally Calls Out Darnell Nurse for Actions Leading to Ryan Reaves' Suspension Should Ryan Reaves have not been suspended by the NHL Department of Player Safety? | ||
| Yes - No Suspension | 87 | 37.3 % |
| No - He Was Right to be Suspended | 146 | 62.7 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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YESTERDAY
APRIL 30, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Quinn Hughes | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Leo Carlsson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Chris Kreider | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Troy Terry | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Matthew Boldy | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Cutter Gauthier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mavrik Bourque | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Wyatt Johnston | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Connor Murphy | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vasily Podkolzin | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ryan Poehling | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladimir Tarasenko | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Michael Bunting | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Carlson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Colton Dach | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Matt Duchene | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brock Faber | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Marcus Foligno | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kasperi Kapanen | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||