TORONTO — Don Cherry says he wasn’t impressed with Roberto Luongo’s snarky tweets about his former team.
Luongo, who was traded from Vancouver to the Florida Panthers last week, sent out a couple of tweets Thursday during the Canucks’ 6-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, saying he’d be able to mop the game up nicely if he was still with the team.
Cherry used his Coach’s Corner segment on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday to respond to Luongo, telling him to "keep (his) mouth shut."
"These guys were pretty good to you, Roberto," Cherry said. "They give you $60 million dollars, they send you to Florida to where you wanted and what do you do? You send a text to them making fun of them that you’d mop up.
"What kind of guy are you? You know how much I think of you. Let’s knock it off. They’re down, they’re having a tough time right now … You’re in paradise, keep your mouth shut."
Cherry also talked about last Wednesday’s trade between the Lightning and Rangers which sent Martin St. Louis from Tampa Bay to New York in exchange for Ryan Callahan and draft picks.
The hockey commentator said he believed St. Louis would not have asked to be traded had he not been snubbed by Steve Yzerman on the original Team Canada Olympic roster.
"He’s really getting ripped, I see signs and all that, you don’t understand," Cherry said. "This guy, he’s got pride."
With St. Louis out of the picture in Tampa Bay, Cherry said he’s worried about new Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who’s now without "his mentor."
Cherry showed footage of Stamkos scoring off passes from St. Louis and compared the two to Hall of Famers Adam Oates and Brett Hull, who were on the St. Louis Blues together until Feb. 1992 when Oates was traded to Boston.
"When (Stamkos) gets in a slump, the first thing he’s going to say is ‘where’s Marty?"’ Cherry said.
