Will an apology save Ron MacLean from the outrage mob that got Don Cherry?
Years after Don Cherry was ousted, the outrage mob is coming after Ron MacLean after an on-air “roofies” remark sparked outrage and an on-air apology from the sports announcer.
Author: Alex Dhaliwal
Ron MacLean watched on as the fallout ended Don Cherry’s “Coach’s Corner” era, a controversy that many fans still see as a mob-driven outrage culture firing. Now, years later, the mob is coming after MacLean after an on-air “roofies” remark sparked outrage and an on-air apology from the sports announcer.
Before the Carolina Hurricanes lifted the Stanley Cup Sunday, Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean addressed remarks he said had “serious connotations.”
“Listen,” he began. “I want to address something that I said earlier on the broadcast. It was a bad mistake by me.”
Before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights, Hockey Night in Canada aired a Hangover-inspired skit in which Kyle Bukauskas found Cup keepers Phil Pritchard and Craig Campbell “passed out” after a Las Vegas-themed night.
After Bukauskas failed to wake Pritchard and Campbell, Sportsnet returned to MacLean, who praised the skit and added, “The roofies, they’ll get you every time.”
“Roofies” is slang for a sedative used in drug-facilitated sexual assault. MacLean later apologized on-air for his casual use of the term, as first reported by Awful Announcing.
“We had a fun spoof on the movie The Hangover, and I referenced a scene in the movie where Mike Tyson’s tiger is put to sleep,” MacLean said. “The Keepers of the Cup, of course, are asleep in the skit, and I used the slang term for the drug, which has far more serious connotations in reality, and I should have made that connection. I did not.”
“I know I triggered some people,” he continued. “I know I offended some people with that remark, and I feel very badly for that. And I want to thank you for bringing it to my attention. I’m very sorry.”
Sportsnet has not issued a public comment on MacLean’s “roofie” joke since Sunday night.
This is not the first controversy involving MacLean, who also drew scrutiny in 2019 during the “Poppygate” fallout tied to Don Cherry’s comments and subsequent firing.
Last July, MacLean said the beloved hockey commentator was battling severe pneumonia during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final and appeared to be planning his exit from Coach’s Corner.
Speaking to the Toronto Sun, Cherry vehemently denied ever using a health scare as an exit ploy. He expressed frustration that MacLean “would reach back five years” and make those assertions public.
“I’m very disappointed in Ron that he would bring this up,” Cherry added, while his wife Luba made it clear MacLean is no longer welcome in their home.
After MacLean’s on-air apology, some turned on him, with one arguing that if Cherry could be fired over the poppy controversy, MacLean could be fired for referencing a date-rape drug.
Another said: “Good thing he didn’t say ‘you people.’”
On social media and fan forums, fans have long viewed MacLean’s 2025 remarks as a “betrayal” of his 34-year partnership with Cherry—a term Cherry himself did not use.
Others argued his dismissal was warranted and that MacLean was simply doing his job.
Meanwhile, CBC and Sportsnet announced Tuesday they would end their Hockey Night in Canada partnership, concluding a 75-year run. It is not yet known what that means for MacLean.
Interesting the CBC ended their partnership with Sportsnet... or vice versa.... hopefully this is the end of CBC altogether and very soon.....
MacLean should have been gone long ago! He is so full of himself! What he did to Don was disgusting, agreeing with him on TV and then throwing him under the bus to save his own ass.