They wanted him out between seasons and the fans got pissed at them for it, so they brought him back. Sportsnet was just waiting for something like this to be able to let him go for good.

That being said I am not a fan of Cherry or his racist comments. He's actually had a history of making racist comments throughout his career, but I assume he doesn't see them as racist comments. I don't think he's made for media these days. I think of it like watching Eddie Murphy's stand up routine from the early 80s where he's constantly bashing gay people and everyone was laughing. Times have changed and things that only made a small percentage of people uncomfortable before now make a lot more people uncomfortable and TV personalities need to adjust to their audience.