Lanny McDonald—The Alberta Adversary

The Battle of Alberta has featured some great stars from the Calgary Flames. Players like Gary Roberts, Theoren Fleury, Al MacInnis, Kent Nilsson (before he became an Oiler), Joe Nieuwendyk, Paul Reinhart and Mike Vernon were players who opposed and excelled against the Oilers.

However, no Flame has been begrudgingly respected by Oilers fans like Hall of Fame player Lanny McDonald.  In hockey, McDonald is constantly remembered for one of the most famous moustaches in hockey history—a ginger-coloured growth that he wore like a mane.  Raised on a family farm in the hamlet of Craigmyle, Alberta, he was a prime example of the hard-working Alberta-farm-boy ethic. In 1971, he was an an all-star in the Alberta Junior Hockey League with the Lethbridge Sugar Kings and in the Western Hockey League with Medicine Hat Tigers. He led the Tigers to the 1972-73 championship, finishing the year with 62 regular-season goals, and a second place spot in the WHL playoff scoring race.

His notoriety had spread across the country, and by 1974, he was starring for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He enjoyed three consecutive 40-goals seasons from 1976 to 1979. He and centre Darryl Sittler would combine to create one of the most lethal forward lines of the 1970s; McDonald’s style and down-home Western demeanour made him a cult hero in Toronto. His solid play earned him a spot on the 1976 Canada Cup squad and the 1979 NHL team that challenged the Soviet national team.

In a shock move spurred on by enigmatic Leafs’ owner Harold Ballard, Toronto traded McDonald to the fledgling Colorado Rockies in a deal that brought Wilf Paiement—the only other NHLer in history to wear 99—to Toronto. Angry Toronto fans protested outside Maple Leaf Gardens to no avail. The Rockies were a failure on and off the ice, but McDonald’s performance was, on many nights, the only reason to see a game at Denver’s McNichols Arena. The Rockies were not a playoff contender, so it freed McDonald to play for Canada at the World Championships.

In the late autumn of 1981, McDonald was traded to the Calgary Flames, and he discovered new life as a Flame. McDonald quickly became a fan favourite. He enjoyed a banner career with the Flames and was a key member of the Battle of Alberta until he retired in 1989. He co-captained the Flames throughout his career and earned 406 points in 492 career games with Calgary. He won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1983 for dedication and perseverance to the game, and won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 1989 for combining hockey excellence with community service.

Despite being only used sparingly and scoring just 18 regular-season points, his most glorious season came in 1988-89. McDonald would register his 1,000th career point on March 7, 1989, against the Winnipeg Jets, and score his 500th goal on March 21, 1989, against the New York Islanders. That spring, he and the Flames exacted vengeance on the Montréal Canadiens who had defeated them in the 1986 Cup final. The Flames became the only visiting team in history to hoist the Cup on Montreal Forum ice after defeating the Habs in Game 6 of the final. McDonald scored a key goal in the game—his last ever in the NHL. On the last day of his hockey career, he finally secured the game’s biggest prize.

[back] [top]