WARMINGTON: Hazel McCallion always had Don Cherry in her corner

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“She was an amazing person who got things done,” said Grapes.

Don Cherry and then Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion hold a Welcome Back Tie sign. Photo by Joe Warmington /Toronto Sun Article content

The long-time friendship between ‘The Coach” and “The Mayor” is as legendary as the two legends themselves. 

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They had a long run together and celebrated many big wins. So when the phone rang in mid-January to tell Don Cherry Hazel McCallion would like him to drop by to visit, he immediately jumped in the car and headed to Streetsville. 

“I was honoured to be one of the people she wanted to see,” said Mississauga’s second-most famous resident on an audience with Mississauga’s most famous. 

But there was another factor. 

“If Hazel asks you to do something, you do it,” he said with a laugh. “You better believe it. If she says, ‘be there,’ you had better be there.” 

The legendary former coach of the Boston Bruins is sure glad he did. Just two weeks later, on Sunday, Jan. 29, Hazel died peacefully at 101 years old just weeks before her 102nd birthday on Valentine’s Day and just days before Cherry’s 89th on Feb. 5. 

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Despite word being she had been ailing, Cherry thought she would be around for both milestones. 

“She seemed fine to me. She was the same as always,” said Grapes. “She was sharp as a tack.” 

Hurricane Hazel was on top of it as she always was. 

Don Cherry, centre, breaks up mayors Mel Lastmand and Hazel McCallion ahead of a game between the Toronto St. Michaels Majors and the Mississauga IceDogs in support of Rose Cherry home.

The first time he saw her in action was during the Mississauga train derailment in November 1979 so he understood she was a take control kind of person – like he was as a hockey coach. Then, a month later as coach of the Colorado Rockies, he was at Maple Leaf Gardens for a game against the Maple Leafs when he met McCallion in person and she told him he was going to come to Mississauga’s Meadowvale Arena to see some girls play. 

“I said, ‘what? On the morning of a game day, I am going to see a girls’ hockey game,’” Cherry said, laughing. 

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Yes he was and years later he’s glad he did. 

“It was fantastic. It was because of Hazel I saw that women and girls had the same passion for hockey as men and boys do,” said Cherry. “I was a fan of women’s hockey after that and I thank Hazel and (Ontario Women’s Hockey League president) Fran Rider for that opportunity.” 

“Blue”, Don Cherry’s faithful sidekick, goes nuts on Don’s grandson Del Cherry, 3, at a press conference to launch the new OHL Mississauga IceDogs and the team complex in Mississauga with Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion. JOE WARMINGTON/TORONTO SUN

Little did Cherry know he’d be fired from Colorado after that season and end up moving in 1980 to Mississauga where he became a great friend and supporter of Hazel and then onto Coach’s Corner fame on Hockey Night in Canada. They each had a loyal friend in each other – Cherry never wavering in his support for her when she was embroiled in controversy or her always sticking with him when many abandoned ship. 

But the common bond they had was hockey. Both played professionally and both loved the game. It was because of this they worked on bringing the OHL IceDogs to the city, build a first-class arena and bring the Women’s World Hockey Championships to Mississauga, which happened in 2000. 

“I can tell you Hazel McCallion and Fran Rider did more for women’s hockey than people realize,” said Cherry. “They both belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame as far as I am concerned. I hope it happens.” 

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The other thing Cherry wishes is that McCallion would have gone from leading Mississauga to running the country, even tweeting “Godspeed Hazel, the greatest mayor of all time. I wish she could have been our PM” after her death. 

Cherry said she would have been exactly what Canada needs. 

“She was an amazing person who got things done,” said Grapes. 

And, says Grapes with a chuckle, someone you didn’t say no to. 

jwarmington@postmedia.com

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