On Saturday night, as part of his annual Remembrance Day tribute to Canada’s veterans on Hockey Night in Canada, Cherry ranted angrily that, in Mississauga, where he lives, and downtown Toronto “nobody wears the poppy.” Jabbing his index finger repeatedly toward the camera, he said: “You people love – they come here, whatever it is, you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you could pay a couple of bucks for a poppy or something like that. These guys pay for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price.”

In his statement posted on Sunday to the Twitter account of Sportsnet PR, Yabsley seemed as stunned as Capt. Renault: “Don’s discriminatory comments are offensive and they do not represent our values and what we stand for as a network. We have spoken with Don about the severity of this issue and we sincerely apologize for these divisive remarks.”

Cherry’s apologies have been rare and usually made only under extreme pressure – sometimes of the legal variety. On the opening night of the 2011-12 season, Cherry laced into three former NHL enforcers, calling them “pukes” and “hypocrites,” for suggesting the league’s fighting culture – of which Cherry is the greatest cheerleader – had caused the substance-abuse problems of fellow tough guys. It took more than a week, and the threat of a lawsuit from the three former players, before Cherry apologized.

On Sunday night, almost 24 hours after his “you people” comments, nobody had yet heard from Cherry. But his sidekick, Ron MacLean, who had sat in silence during Cherry’s rant and then concluded the segment with an oddly robotic thumbs-up, offered an earnest apology that included references to Canada’s Indigenous peoples.

Opening the broadcast of Rogers Hometown Hockey, of which he is the host, MacLean told viewers that Cherry’s remarks “were hurtful, discriminatory [and] flat-out wrong.”

“We know diversity is the strength of the country. We see it in the travels with our show, and with Hockey Night in Canada. So – I owe you an apology, too,” he said. “I sat there, did not catch it, did not respond. Kathryn Teneese of Ktunaxa First Nation once said, in any wrongdoing, the real key is recognition and acknowledgment. I wanted to let you know that first – and then you work on the relationship, so that it isn’t divisive, so that something can be a unifying event. Idle No More was a great lesson to all of us. Last night was a really great lesson to Don and me. We were wrong, and I sincerely apologize, and I wanted to thank you for calling me and Don on that last night.”