Conference stkhlm::hockey

                   `My everything,' Cherry says of Rose

                                 By Paul Hunter
                          Toronto Star Sports Reporter

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                   She was the brains behind her husband's
                   bravado. A barometer for the bluster that
                   would explode across the CBC airwaves from
                   Hockey Night In Canada's Coach's Corner.

                   She was, Don Cherry said yesterday, ``my
                   everything.''

                   Mrs. Cherry died Sunday afternoon of
                   cancer. She was 62.

                   ``She was the love of my life for 40
                   years, that's all I can say,'' said
                   Cherry, 63, fighting back tears. One of
                   the rare fights he obviously had no
                   interest in winning.

                   While Cherry prides himself on being
                   working class, Rose Cherry was simply
                   class.

                   She was the rock-solid foundation on which
                   Cherry's stardom was built. A partner in
                   life, she also managed his business world
                   - one that grew to include restaurants,
                   television shows and videos - and every
                   aspect of his career.

                   ``She was his guiding light. She was so
                   much to him,'' said Ralph Mellanby, the
                   man who, as executive producer of HNIC,
                   first gave Cherry his CBC pulpit in 1980.
                   ``Don didn't make a move left, right or
                   centre without talking to her.''

                   Cherry met Rose Marie Martini in her
                   hometown of Hershey, Pa., when both were
                   teenagers. Their first date was - what
                   else? - one of Cherry's hockey games.

                   ``It was the first game I'd ever seen,''
                   Mrs. Cherry once recounted to The Star.
                   ``And about two minutes into it, Don was
                   in a brawl. I said, `These Canadians are
                   barbarians.' ''

                   But something clicked. The barbarian had a
                   softer side and the two soon married. What
                   followed were 53 moves over the next 26
                   years as the pug defenceman refused to let
                   his hockey dream die.

                   It was an unforgiving life of packing up
                   the kids, Cindy and Tim, throwing their
                   few possessions in the trunk and moving on
                   to the next hockey outpost. Another small
                   town, another small paycheque. Through all
                   the family's drifting, Mrs. Cherry
                   remained an anchor.

                   ``We had 16 years in Siberia and she was
                   with me every step of the way,'' Cherry
                   said yesterday. ``When I was 38 I was
                   unemployed and we barely had two nickels
                   to put together but not once did she
                   complain or say she was having a tough
                   time.''

                   Eventually the good times came - Cherry
                   went into the Don Cherry business. And
                   with Mrs. Cherry handling the books and
                   the bookings, business was good.

                   Mrs. Cherry, who occasionally appeared in
                   television commercials with her husband,
                   was never totally at ease with his
                   no-holds-barred commentaries that became
                   must viewing for Canadian hockey fans.

                   ``I guess I don't like controversy. I like
                   to go along in my little old world with
                   everything being hunky-dory,'' she said
                   during a CBC Life And Times biography that
                   aired in October.

                   ``She was just the opposite of me,'' said
                   Cherry yesterday. ``She always kept me in
                   line.''

                   The question now is, without his
                   conscience in place, will Cherry continue
                   to be hockey's everyman.

                   He sat out Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final
                   Saturday - it wasn't until then he told
                   friends of his wife's illness - and he
                   won't be back this spring.

                   Ron MacLean, Cherry's on-air partner who
                   will also miss tonight's game, says it's
                   unfair to speculate about whether Cherry
                   will return to the airwaves.

                   ``He'll be like (his dog) Blue. His tail
                   won't be wagging as quickly for a couple
                   of days but he has the heart of a terrier.
                   He's devastated, but with the help of his
                   family, he'll be fine,'' MacLean said.

                   A private family funeral, with
                   broadcasters MacLean and Brian Williams
                   providing the eulogy, will be held
                   tomorrow.

                   HNIC will dedicate the broadcast of
                   tonight's game to the memory of Rose
                   Cherry.

    8,^(

    I HATE news like that.
    
    The worst news one can ever hear.
    
    
    Andy