As coach of the Boston Bruins Don Cherry would have loved to have had his name on the Stanley Cup. Now Cherry is fighting for the names of the guys who made sure his name isn’t on the hallowed trophy.

“Best power play ever,” said Grapes of the 1977 and 1978 Montreal Canadiens. “They had Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Jacques Lemaire up front and Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard and Larry Robinson on defence, and don’t forget about (Ken) Dryden in net. Not bad, eh.”

They sure had Grapes’s number.’

It’s because those names are on the Cup that names like Cherry, as well as some other great Bruins like Rick Middleton and Peter McNab, aren’t.

“That’s the way it should be,” said Grapes.

And should their names, including “Scotty Bowman, who was a great coach,” be on there forever?

Certainly legendary Maple Leafs defenceman Bobby Baun thinks so

The hero of the 1964 Stanley Cup Leafs started the discussion when reacting to the Hockey Hall of Fame’s announcement that a ring around the Cup consisting of 12 championship teams is being removed to make room for a dozen new winners.

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It is the second band around the Cup to be flattened out and put on display in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but this time it’s going to see the removal of names like Gordie Howe, Rocket Richard and the legendary Maple Leaf players from the 1962, ’63 and ’64 winning teams.

“I phoned Bobby Baun to talk about it,” said Cherry. “I just don’t think it’s right to take the names off the Cup of the guys who won it. Gordie Howe is coming off the Cup? I mean, come on! That’s Mr. Hockey.”

As he talks about in his new best-seller, Don Cherry’s Hockey Greats & More, Cherry’s other shot at lifting the Stanley Cup came in his one NHL game in 1955 — a Bruins playoff tilt against the Habs at the old Montreal Forum.

“All of the legends were on that club — Jean Beliveau, Bernie Geoffrion, Doug Harvey, Dickie Moore, Jacques Plante and of course the Rocket (Maurice Richard) and the Pocket Rocket (Henri) Richard,” said Cherry, adding he can’t imagine not having those iconic names on the Cup.

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However he also recognizes the NHL and the Hockey Hall of Fame have a legitimate problem “because there is only so much room on the Cup.”

So what to do?

“I know there are some guys who say they don’t care, but I know deep down they do,” he said.

Cherry has a suggestion.

He thinks the travelling Cup they hand out now should be left as it is and the new winners should be added on the original Cup that sits in the Hall of Fame.

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“It is a lot different when it comes to adding names to the Cup than it is when taking them off,” he said.

Making sure every name is on the display Cup will mean that Cup would get a lot bigger, but it may be better than taking off immortal names like Tim Horton or George Armstrong or Bobby Orr or Bobby Hull or Stan Mikita, and one day even Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby.

Baun’s suggestion is to have a replica Stanley Cup built with current era teams and players’ names and retire the old one with the winning players of the past.

“It could mean two or three Cups retired but it’s better than taking Gordie Howe’s name off it,” Baun said.

Grapes agrees with Baun that the players and coaches on the Cup should be consulted.

Since the NHL has adjusted itself to having three-on-three overtime, shootouts and eliminated much of the fighting from the game, it seems logical to have a conversation about what they could do to preserve the names of some of their greatest champions.

Cherry would have loved for his name to be on there but is now standing up for those who made sure it isn’t.