Lanny
McDonald(Inducted 1992)

Lanny McDonald's hero while growing up was his father who had taught him the value of hard work and honesty on the family farm in Craigmyle, Alberta, about 22 miles from Hanna. His mother was a teacher in the three-room school that McDonald attended through grade eight. In school he had to refer to his mother as Mrs. McDonald, but outside of the classroom he was raised with a deep sense of family and community. McDonald would carry those qualities with him throughout his life.

He was the youngest of four children and learned to develop his shot by shooting pucks against the basement wall with his older brother. The only "live" hockey he witnessed in his childhood was when he would tag along with his sisters to watch their boyfriends play hockey in nearby towns. McDonald had learned to skate at the age of five and after years of minor hockey he left home at age 16 to try out for the Lethbridge Sugar Kings, a Tier II team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He made the team but was unspectacular in his first season, registering only two goals in 34 games.

The following season his production increased to 37 goals and 82 points in 45 games and he was high on the list of many an NHL scout from that point until draft day. McDonald was an AJHL Second team All-Star in 1971 and was named to the Western Canadian Junior Hockey League First All-Star team in 1973 as a member of the Medicine Hat Tigers.

He was rated as the Western League's most complete player in 1972-73 and led the Tigers with 18 playoff goals in 17 games, playing alongside Boyd Anderson and Tom Lysiak. Scouts always mentioned three qualities when they described McDonald; a great shot, a good skater, and tough as nails.

McDonald was Toronto's first choice, 4th overall, in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft and got off to slow starts in both his rookie and sophomore seasons. Everything seemed to come together by his third season and he more than doubled his point production from the previous year. His fine showing earned him an invitation to the Team Canada training camp in preparation for the 1976 Canada Cup tournament. He appeared in five games for the host country and assisted on Darryl Sittler's series-winning overtime goal against Czechoslovakia. The highlight of his Leafs career came in the 1978 playoffs when he scored in overtime of game seven to eliminate the New York Islanders and send his Leafs into the Stanley Cup semi-finals.

McDonald was known for his blistering shot off the right wing and when he took the body hard in the corners players felt the contact and remembered it. He was a tough, clean player and was named to the NHL's Second All-Star team in 1977. McDonald also played in the 1978 All-Star Game and was a member of the NHL squad that played the Soviet National Team in the Challenge Cup series in 1979 to replace that year's All-Star Game.

When he was traded to Colorado by Toronto on December 29, 1979, the Leafs' faithful showed their displeasure by picketing outside Maple Leaf Gardens. McDonald continued his superlative play in Denver and although team success eluded the Rockies he was chosen to play for Canada in the 1981 World Hockey Championships.

McDonald happily returned home to Alberta when he was traded to the Calgary Flames by Colorado on November 25, 1981. He provided the Flames with the best hockey of his career and recorded a career-high 66 regular season goals and 98 points in the 1982-83 season. He was selected for the second time in his career to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 1983 and was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his "perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."

The 1988-89 season was a banner year for McDonald; he won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, the "Bud" Man of the Year Award, scored his 1,000th point on March 7, 1989, against Winnipeg Jets, scored his 500th goal on March 21, 1989, against the New York Islanders, and won the Stanley Cup with the Flames.

McDonald scored his first NHL goal at the Montreal Forum in 1973 and scored the last goal of his career again at the Forum, in game six of the 1989 Stanley Cup finals. It was with his usual class and dignity that McDonald chose to retire from the game after the 1989 playoffs.

Former Calgary teammate Jim Peplinski once said, "If you want to be good inside and outside the rink, Mac's a good guy to pattern yourself after. He's first-class all the way."

McDonald was always available to assist charities such as Big Brothers and Ronald McDonald House, but the Special Olympic remain his special interest. "Seeing those faces is as nice as scoring 66 goals; its a saw off," he once said about his work with the Special Olympics.

He was a Vice-President with the Flames organization for many years following his retirement and was named general manager of Canada's entry in the 2001 World Championships.

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Interview with a Legend by Ken Newans

There may not be a more recognizable player in Canada than the man with the moustache, Lanny McDonald. His work with Special Olympics, minor hockey and a multitude of special causes has earned him a special place in Canadian Sports.

He is still Calgary's most popular sports figure even though he retired 11 years ago.

I bounced a few questions off Lanny!

Who was the games greatest player?

“I believe it's difficult to compare eras but Howe, Orr, and Gretzky are special. I played against them all. I watched Howe score a goal from just inside the blue line against us in Toronto, he was 51 years old. He got a standing ovation, including our bench. He will always be known as Mr. Hockey.

Bobby Orr changed the game, as a defenceman he played both ends of the rink, scored at will, and could do it all and had bad knees. It's hard to say how great a healthy Orr would have become.

Wayne Gretzky controlled the game, had amazing vision, and he made everyone around him better. Lanny concluded, “I loved Jean Belliveau and I was disappointed I never was able to play against him.”

Lanny, who was the best you ever played with?

“With the Flames, I was always amazed by the passing talents of Guy Chouinard. He would say go to the net and you'll get it. How, I don't know.

However my old Toronto teammate Darryl Sittler was the best I ever played with! He was a great Captain, he could pass, shoot and if you wanted to play it rough he could respond. We were great friends on the ice, off the ice, and we are still very close to this day.”

Lanny admitted his old teammate Kent Nilsson was the most talented athlete he ever played with. He was a scratch golfer, exceptional tennis and table tennis player, a Swedish youth allstar soccer player. As a hockey player he could play with three pucks at one time and for the TV cameras casually banged four straight shots from the blue line off the cross bar. But in the game, he couldn't always get his hockey talent to surface.

When I asked Lanny what coach had the greatest impact on him, I was surprised with his answer.

“I go back to my junior days in Lethbridge and coach John Chapman who is still an NHL scout taught me the toughness and hard work required to become a pro.”

His greatest thrill in hockey wasn't a surprise!

“When we were the first and only team to win a Stanley Cup in Montreal. The standing ovation from the partisan Montreal fans was a great tribute. That's where I scored my first NHL goal and my clinching goal was my last NHL goal. He added, “Those memories never go away and are relived every time the old Flames get together.”

Lanny's popularity is everlasting. Whenever a camera flashes his face on the jumbotron, it's an ovation. Fans on a national TV poll named his overtime goal against Edmonton in 1984 playoffs as the alltime most exciting Flames highlight. He is the only Flames player that is cheered in Edmonton.

Lanny's dad Lorne provided him with the wisdom to handle all this popularity when he told him, “When it's all over and they remember you as Lanny McDonald the man, as well as Lanny McDonald the hockey player, you have done well.”

Lanny retired in 1989 and even though he knew it was time, he admitted it was very difficult and the toughest year of his life. “You miss your teammates and the challenge of striving for a common goal.”

Lanny is also a consummate family man, when I told him my old CFCN TV camera crew told me when his four children taped a public service announcement at the studio they were the nicest and most polite kids to ever be in the studio. Lanny's reaction, “When hockey is over, your family is all that is left and Ardell and I are very proud of our kids Andrea, Leah, Barret and Graham.”

Lanny loves the Legends tour because it takes you back briefly to arenas, planes, crowds, buses, the tumult, the fun and the team thing.

Lanny McDonald sounds almost too perfect, but he does have a flaw and that is the “handle bar moustache” that he has worn since his first year of pro in Toronto. My opinion is not shared though, because his fans even love that, and in fact as we parted he mentioned he had to go to the ski hill for an organizational meeting for the Moustache Mountain Magic, a skiing fundraiser for his Special Olympians.