One of the most beloved Calgary Flames in team history was a popular figure during the Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour stop in St. Albert.
The iconic moustache is still thick and stylish but trimmer, the hair is now whiter, but above all else, the 63-year-old Lanny McDonald oozes with the same grace and class that made the former Alberta Junior Hockey League player from Medicine Hat a fan favourite from coast to coast.
McDonald racked up 500 goals and 1,006 points in 1,111 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and the Flames before retiring after scoring a memorable goal in the 1989 Stanley Cup game six series clincher against the Montreal Canadians.
One of McDonald’s most famous quotes described the emotion of hoisting the Stanley Cup on Forum ice while wearing the captain’s crest.
“This is the most peaceful feeling I’ve ever experienced in hockey. There’s no feeling like it. I wish I could describe it to people outside. I think you appreciate it a lot more after you’ve been trying to win it for 16 years, like I have,” said the first Flame to have his number retired by the team and the franchise record holder for most goals in a season, 66 in 80 games in 1982/83.
After a lengthy stint signing autographs and posing for pictures in the Scotiabank Tent, the Gazette was granted a quick media availability session with the Hall of Famer on a sunny Saturday afternoon on St. Anne Street.
It looks like you’re having a blast at these events.
McDonald: “It’s unbelievable. You would never ever think of signing anything Oilers in the Battle of Alberta days but now it’s so much fun and people are such great hockey fans. All of a sudden, 20-plus years has gone by and it’s like you’ve been gone for a long time and now you’ve come home.
As for St. Albert, it’s such a great hockey town and to have people like Mark Messier and (Nick) Holden and Jarome Iginla from here, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Growing up, who was your hockey idol?
McDonald: “There was no question I wanted to be Gordie Howe, that’s why I wear the number nine.
“When I got to Toronto, nine was taken by Normie Ullman and it was pretty cool to have met him and to play with him. He could really play hockey.”
How is the state of the NHL right now?
McDonald: “Well, first of all the game today the players are bigger, faster and stronger. They’re great. They’re phenomenal athletes, way better than we were, although I think if we were playing today you would find a way to obviously do things differently than when we played and find a way to coexist, but more importantly the game is played at such a high tempo and high speed.
“Now, the downside is right now where our Canadian teams are and we’ve got to find a way to change that. I look forward to having the entire thing turned around and have six or seven Canadian teams in the playoffs. That would really make my day.”
Johnny Hockey (Johnny Gaudreau) of the Flames, how good is he?
McDonald: “Johnny Hockey is everything that they wrote him up to be before he ever got to Calgary. Some people thought, oh, there is no possible way that someone that small in today’s game can actually exist but this guy has hands that are butter and he can stickhandle in a phone booth with the biggest defencemen and find a way to come out of that phone booth. It’s pretty cool and thank goodness he’s in Calgary.”
What about that Connor McDavid kid?
McDonald: “I love that guy. I love the speed at which he plays, how good his hands are and how heads up he is. The goal that he scored after coming back from the injury, he went between the two defencemen and came out the other side and I’m actually watching the game thinking, now, has he got enough time to actually make a move on the goaltender? Well, he made 12 moves before he got there and then totally undressed the goaltender.
“He’s a great player and going to be a great player for a long, long time.”
What question are you asked the most by fans?
McDonald: “They ask a lot about the Battle of Alberta and who was the toughest guy you always faced in that battle and then who your favourite players were growing up. I didn’t really have Oilers on my list at that time but we need to get back to the good old days when there was such an intense rivalry and people feared to come into Alberta and played the Oilers and Flames.”
What's retirement like after a 16-year NHL career?
McDonald: “I’m probably busier than I ever was before. I’ve been fortunate enough to do a tremendous amount with Scotiabank and Hockey Day in Canada and the Hometown Hockey tour and I took on the chairmanship of the Hockey Hall of Fame. I’m about as busy as you would want to be and I’m loving every second of it.”
