Don Cherry Blasts Andrew Ference for Comments to Media About Daniel Paille Hit

by Mike Cole on Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 12:02PM

A lot of people in NHL circles have made their opinions known in regards to blind-side hits and hits to the head. Andrew Ference was one of those people, and that's got Don Cherry very upset.

Following a 6-3 Bruins win on Thursday, Ference spoke out against teammate Daniel Paille's hit on Stars forward Raymond Sawada that ended up earning Paille a four-game suspension.

"It's a bad hit, right?" Ference wondered aloud to reporters following the Thursday's game. "That's what they're trying to get rid of. You can't be a hypocrite and complain about it when it happens to you and say it's fine when your teammate does it. It is a hit that they're trying to get rid of."

The comments didn't seem to spark too much debate, but Cherry made it clear on Saturday night that he was not impressed one bit. Speaking on his segment "Coach's Corner" for CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, Grapes ripped into Ference for making his opinion public.

"You do not, I don't care if your teammate is an axe murderer, what you got to say to the guy is you [go to him] in the dressing room and tell him that it was a dirty hit," Cherry said during the segment. "But you wouldn't do that anyhow.

"I'd hate to be in that dressing room right now. You see what happened [Saturday], 2-0 [Bruins loss to San Jose]. That brings your dressing room down. When you have a guy in the dressing room talking about your own players and know he's going to get suspended."