Lanny McDonald

Lanny McDonald

Lanny King McDonald is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League. McDonald played over 1,100 games during a 16-year career in which he scored over 500 goals. His total of 66 goals in 1982–83 remains the Flames’ franchise record for a single season.

About Lanny McDonald in brief

Summary Lanny McDonaldLanny King McDonald is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League. McDonald played over 1,100 games during a 16-year career in which he scored over 500 goals. His total of 66 goals in 1982–83 remains the Flames’ franchise record for a single season. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992, the Alberta Sports Hall of Hall in 1993 and Canada’s Sports Hall in 2017. In 2015, he was named chairman of the board of the HockeyHall of Fame after serving nine years on the Hall’s selection committee. McDonald represented Team Canada as a player on two occasions and in a management role three times. His assist created the tournament winning overtime goal of the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup, and he was director of player personnel of Canada’s 2004 World Championship winning team. McDonald is among the most popular players in Flames history and his personality and bushy red moustache made him an iconic figure within the sport. He is the youngest of four children after brother Lynn and sisters Donna and Dixie. His father, Lorne, tended the family farm near the hamlet of Craigmyle, 35 kilometres outside Hanna, Alberta. McDonald shared his father’s passion for theToronto Maple Leafs; he was given his middle name, King, after Maple Leafs’ star King Clancy. His mother, Phyllis, was a full-time teacher who was frequently involved with community events. McDonald began his junior career in 1969 with the Lethbridge Sugar Kings of the tier II Alberta Junior Hockey League.

The following season, 1970–71, he emerged as a leading scorer, recording 37 goals and 82 points in 45 games. In McDonald’s draft year of 1973, he went to the WHA with the fourth overall pick in the NHL draft and was selected 10th overall by the Cleveland Crusaders. Instead of playing with Cleveland, he made it clear he would rather play with Vancouver rather than play with WHA rival Cleveland. He joined the Medicine Hat Tigers the following year, finishing eighth in league scoring with 114 points, including 50 goals, and 139 points in 1972–73 to finish third overall in WCHL Team Team. In his final season with the Tigers, he added 62 goals in the playoffs as the team won the league championship. McDonald was voted the league’s most valuable player and named to the Second All-Star team. He completed high school while playing in Lethbridge, choosing to remain with his junior A team in 1970-71 rather than join the Medicinehat Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League so that he could complete his diploma. In 1981, he played parts of three seasons in Denver, before he was sent to Calgary in 1981 where he spent the remainder of his career. He co-captained the Flames to a Stanley Cup championship in his last season of 1988–89. The Calgary Flames retired McDonald’s uniform number 9 in 1990. McDonald won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for dedication and sportsmanship in 1983 and in 1988 was named the inaugural winner of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy.