Don Cherry Draws Focus As Ron MacLean Apologizes For Roofies Joke
don cherry is back in the frame after Ron MacLean apologized on Monday, June 15, for a “roofies” joke made during a Stanley Cup pregame show. The Hockey Night in Canada host was climbing down from his perch after making a line about plying somebody with the date rape drug.
The apology came in the same broadcast cycle as the comment, which turned a pregame segment into a reputational problem fast. MacLean’s job on a major NHL stage gave the remark a larger reach than a throwaway line would have had anywhere else.
Ron MacLean And The Broadcast
MacLean was described as the legendary Hockey Night in Canada host, and that context is part of why the reaction landed so hard. A pregame show is built around setup and analysis, but this exchange shifted attention to the comment itself instead of the Stanley Cup coverage.
The joke used the word “roofies,” and the article said there is nothing funny about plying somebody with the date rape drug. That is the line that forced the apology and made the moment more than a bad bit on live television.
Stanley Cup Pregame Fallout
The timing matters because the comment and the apology both happened on Monday, June 15, during Stanley Cup pregame coverage. That put the issue in front of a broad hockey audience at a moment when the broadcast should have been focused on the game.
The result is simple: MacLean had to answer for the joke immediately, and the apology became part of the night’s story. For a host known by NHL viewers, that kind of on-air correction changes how the segment is remembered more than anything said before puck drop.
June 15 Reaction
The sharpest fact is still the apology itself. MacLean made the joke, then walked it back on the same day, after the language crossed a line the article treated as serious rather than playful.
That leaves the broadcast with a clean takeaway for viewers: the remark was made, the apology followed, and the focus moved from a pregame tease to the standard the show failed to meet. In a slot built for hockey, the only lasting note was the one he had to retract.
