Don Cherry Says Hockey Will Return Mid-January

We want to believe. [Photo via Don We Now Our Gay Apparel (no, really)]

Ever-dapper Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster Don Cherry says he is confident the NHL will return in mid-January, according to a tweet from the former Bruins coach.

Look to the middle of January for the game to return! Those people who say it won’t be good hockey because it’s only half a season don’t

— Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerCBC) December 23, 2012

Know what they’re talking about. Don’t you remember the last time it was half a season and New Jersey won the Cup? It was a sprint not a…

— Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerCBC) December 23, 2012

Marathon. Play within their own conference. Lots of action. The guys know every game is important. Won’t have the half season blahs. it will

— Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerCBC) December 23, 2012

Be terrific! They will go to the brink and then settle. Nobody in their right mind would kill the goose that lays these golden eggs.

— Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerCBC) December 23, 2012

Evidently Grapes refuses to be bound by a 140-character count.

Awkward sentence breaks aside, Cherry’s optimism is undeniable. But past predictions by false prophets (thanks for nothing, Steve Burton) have left fans jaded and skeptical. There doesn’t seem to be much substance to Cherry’s tweets as far as insider sources, though it is worth nothing that Cherry is a thousand times more authoritative on the subject than Burton, who was let off scotch-free for his baseless prediction earlier this month. Remember this?

Besides, Cherry misses the point. A shortened season is not the fans’ biggest concern; it is the lack of a season altogether. No one is disputing the Devils’ 1995 Cup or the existence of a mid-season doldrums. His belief that the NHL wouldn’t “kill the goose that lays these golden eggs” seems awfully naive given that it has already put it in a coma. And remember when analysts said the Winter Classic was the brink – the owners’ last stand, after which they would ease up on the players and become more reasonable in negotiations? That went well.

Once again, as much as you may want to believe Don Cherry, maintain cautious, cautious optimism.