Don Cherry is veering to the left, at least when it comes to where you see him sitting on your television.

The hard-line right winger, known for his conservative rants, has had fans calling an offside ever since he began sitting on Ron MacLean’s right rather than his left on Coach’s Corner after nearly 30 years.

Not even CBC producers of the show knew the changeup was coming in late March, when Cherry unilaterally declared it was time for a change.

“Came as a surprise to me,” said Trevor Pilling, head of CBC sports programming.





Cherry, up north taking a break before his shift this Saturday, could not be reached for comment.

But his sidekick Ron MacLean laughed Thursday in a telephone interview about the changeup and the uproar it’s caused amongst Hockey Night in Canada viewers.

MacLean, a veteran broadcaster, says he has almost completely lost his hearing in his left ear from jamming an earbud, volume turned up to hear over loud hockey crowds.

“With Don at my left it was OK because I couldn’t hear him, but now for the last month or so I’ve had to listen to him,” MacLean laughed, jokingly adding “it’s been very traumatic.”

MacLean told the Star that Cherry came into the studio about a month ago and arbitrarily informed him of the new seating arrangement, likely because Cherry thinks it shows off his “good side.”

“It’s funny, everyone’s been asking me about it,” said MacLean. “My wife hates it.”

Other than sometimes heading for the wrong chair before they go to air, MacLean says he doesn’t really notice the switch.

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“Don seems to like it, and believe me, the lighting, the chairs, everything, that’s his little baby,” said MacLean.

Tim Cherry, Don Cherry’s son, was also surprised by the seating change and joked he’ll be asking his dad to switch back if the Maple Leafs keep losing.

“It might bring some good luck,” he said.

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