Richard John Cherry (March 28, 1937 – March 6, 2025) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

and

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

between 1956 and 1970. He was the brother of media personality

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins. After concluding a playing career in the A ...

Playing career

Born in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, Cherry played

junior hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from t ...

for the

Barrie Flyers The Barrie Flyers were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1945 to 1960, from Barrie, Ontario. The Flyers played home games at the Barrie Arena from 1945 to 1960. History The Barrie Flyers junior team was founded in ...

, then professional hockey for the

for the 1956–57 season. After one season, Cherry played for various minor league teams, including two seasons for the

Kingston Frontenacs The Kingston Frontenacs are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Kingston, Ontario. The Frontenacs play home games at Slush Puppie Place, which opened in 2008. The team's history predates the Ontario Ho ...

of the Eastern Professional Hockey League. Cherry retired in 1963 to teach high school in Kingston. In the 1968–69 season, Cherry returned to the NHL to play for the

, where he remained for two years. He played 145 NHL games, six with the Boston Bruins and 139 with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Death

Cherry died on March 6, 2025, at the age of 87.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1937 births 2025 deaths 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Barrie Flyers players Boston Bruins players Canadian educators Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian people of Cornish descent Ice hockey people from Kingston, Ontario Kingston Frontenacs (EPHL) players Oklahoma City Blazers (1965–1977) players Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League (1890–1979) players Philadelphia Flyers players Providence Reds players Quebec Aces (QSHL) players St. Louis Blues scouts Springfield Indians players {{Canada-icehockey-defenceman-1930s-stub