Sun columnist says Grapes is going out on top after ending podcast

Kingston-born Don Cherry revealed he was given the King's Coronation Medal in his interview with Joe Warmington.

It appears Don Cherry is indeed hanging up the mic for good.

The 91-year-old Kingston-born former hockey coach turned commentator told the Toronto Sun's Joe Warmington that he will not be back to do his podcast with son Tim Cherry this season.

Warmington says the announcement caught him by surprise when he came to visit Cherry (or Grapes as he is sometimes called) at his home in Mississauga earlier this week.

It was back in June after the Stanley Cup Finals that Cherry signed off his final episode in what people believed was for the last time. He later clarified to say that he was wrapping up the podcast for the summer and returning in October. 

Warmington believes Cherry can still do another season but he wanted to go out on his own terms.

Over the summer, Cherry received the King's Coronation Medal complete with a certificate. It read that the medal is in recognition of his valuable contribution to the country.

Warmington says it was a fitting tribute to a deserving Canadian.

People continue to lobby to have Cherry receive the Order of Canada. There are also calls for the former Jack Adams Award winner to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Warmington says people will miss hearing his voice but his impact on the game of hockey and Canada will last.

Story by Ken Hashizume