Dick was reluctant to leave the Flyers, as he knew there was little chance he'd play in Boston. In the off-season he was reclaimed by the Boston Bruins in a intra-league draft. His numbers dipped to 3 goals and 4 assists in 68 games.
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Its a memory I'll keep with me the rest of my life."ĭick played another full season in Philly in 1969-70. "We ended up losing the game 5-2, but it was quite a thrill to get a goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs. "I scored a goal against Jacques Plante of the Blues" Dick remembers. His biggest goal came during the opening game of the 1969 playoffs against St. So, off I went to Philadelphia.Ĭherry earned a niche as a penalty killer but also popped in an impressive 9 goals in his rookie year, helping the Flyers reach the playoffs. "I went to the school director and asked him for a leave of absence to play in the NHL and the thought it was a great idea. "That was a hell of a lot of money in those days," recalled Cherry.
He came out of retirement in 1966-67 to play with the Oklahoma City Blazers of the CHL but returned to the halls of education.ĭick jumped a Flyers offer of $22,000 contract with a guarantee to play in the NHL. He had initially retired from hockey in 1963 after 6 seasons in the minors to teach school. The long time minor leaguer finally caught on as a limited defenseman and fulltime penalty killer with the young Flyers.ĭick initially sat out the first NHL season to teach elementary school in Kingston. That was back in 1968 through 1970 when Dick benefited from NHL expansion. "In fact, there was actually a time when folks around here referred to Don as my brother!" "Most people around Kingston realize that I played a couple of years in the NHL," says Dick. Dick too played mostly in the minors, but appeared in 149 games - 8 with Boston and 141 with Philadelphia. Don only appeared in one NHL game in his long minor league career. While Dick lives in the very big shadow of his brother, he was actually a better player - 149 times better if you compare NHL games played totals. Thankfully, people in Kingston still know me as Dick, which truly is my first name." "I've been called 'Don's brother' so often in recent years that I sometimes think my initials are D.B. "People are forever coming up and asking me, 'Hey, aren't you Don's brother?' " explained Dick.
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Every hockey fan knows who Don Cherry is - the loud obnoxious TV personality and former very successful coach of the Boston Bruins.