Ron MacLean sinks to new low in treatment of Don Cherry.

I'll best honest this one caught me off guard.

A few weeks ago I was very surprised when, seemingly out of the blue, former referee turned National Hockey League broadcaster Ron MacLean suddenly published a photo of himself celebrating Don Cherry's birthday alongside his former co-host on Coach's Corner. The timing was a bit odd, the photograph was published by MacLean to social media over a month after Don Cherry's birthday, but I had simply assumed that MacLean and Don Cherry had patched things up behind the scenes and thought nothing of it at the time.

It wasn't until earlier today while researching for another story about MacLean, an interview last night with Maple Leafs forward Bobby McMann that turned very awkward thanks to MacLean, that I realized nothing could have been further from the truth.

"I assumed it was just for him, and it was a cringe moment when I saw it on his X account," said Don Cherry's son, Tim Cherry, of the photo as per the Toronto Sun.

You see, in spite of the way that MacLean appears to be portraying things, it doesn't actually sound like there has been any patching up of things behind the scenes. In fact, as it turns out MacLean wasn't even invited by Don Cherry himself to be there on the day the photograph was taken, but instead the invitation had only been extended by Tim Cherry who was hoping to see the relationship mended and avoid any potentially awkward situations.

"I figured Ron might come by with a card and I thought if he was going to do it, it might be better at my house since I thought it would be uncomfortable if he showed up at my dad’s house on the actual date of his birthday," admitted Tim Cherry.

Tim Cherry admits however that he never expected MacLean to use it on social media in the manner that he did.

"It was supposed to be a private moment between two guys who have very public lives," said Tim Cherry.

In a great show of class, Don Cherry has refrained from publicly calling out MacLean over the incident and has instead chosen to remain quiet on the issue, at least publicly.

It would appear that a formal and very public apology from MacLean would be required to actually mend the fences between these two long time friends, and despite what MacLean may be trying to portray to the world that has not happened as of yet.