Tigers icon McDonald ‘stunned’ to receive Order of Hockey in Canada

“I was actually stunned, I didn’t know what to think of it,” said McDonald in a Zoom call on Thursday. “To be able to be honoured in this way and also go in with Kim St-Pierre and Guy Lafleur who I’ve admired for years and years… it’s pretty cool.

McDonald joins a select list of under 40 Canadian players and executives since 2012 to receive the honour, which is bestowed to those few for “outstanding contributions or service to the growth and development of the sport of hockey in Canada.”

The 69-year-old McDonald said he was caught off guard by the news however, after playing some phone tag with Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney.

“He was just getting back from Beijing at the Olympics, he had called and I missed his first call,” said McDonald. “I called him back and he was already trying to call me again. He tells me the news and I was stunned, I didn’t know what to think. I thought it might have been, although I recognized his voice, I thought maybe it was one of our alumni playing a prank on me.”

McDonald’s resume both in the NHL and internationally is one filled with success from a Stanley Cup win with the Calgary Flames in 1989 to 1,006 points scored over 1,111 NHL contests between the Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Rockies.

“I was actually stunned, I didn’t know what to think of it,” said McDonald in a Zoom call on Thursday. “To be able to be honoured in this way and also go in with Kim St-Pierre and Guy Lafleur who I’ve admired for years and years… it’s pretty cool.

Representing Team Canada twice in his career, McDonald assisted on Darryl Sittler’s double-overtime winning goal that helped the Canadians to a victory in the 1976 Canada Cup.

His time wearing the maple leaf actually began four years earlier though, as he and the Medicine Hat Tigers represented Canada at the short-lived 1972 World Cup.

“We played in Colorado Springs and in Minnesota where we played the Finns, the Czechs, the United States and the Russians,” said McDonald. “I remember the Russians beat us 12-4, they were a fine-tuned machine. The fact that we actually scored four goals on them was pretty darn cool.”

As an executive, McDonald also served in general manager and director of player personnel roles which included a gold medal win at the 2004 IIHF World Championship in the Czech Republic.

“For Canada to win, oh what a plane ride home,” said McDonald. “What a party afterwards and what a plane ride home.”

McDonald was a key piece in helping Medicine Hat win its first Western Canadian Hockey League championship in 1973 with 253 points scored over two seasons and was the first player in franchise history to have his number retired by the Tigers.

Close to half a century later, his impact is still being felt inside the team’s locker room.

“Wherever he’s gone, he’s just brought class to it,” said Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins. “He’s a great Tiger, we’re certainly proud of him being up in the rafters. I don’t think you can say enough good things about Lanny McDonald and what he’s meant to hockey. He’s always been kind of a role model for us to follow.

Joining McDonald in the ‘Class of 2022’ is St-Pierre, who helped backstop Canada to three Olympic gold medals in 2002, 2006 and 2010.

Her 83 games played, 64 wins and 29 shutouts all stand as Canadian women’s team records and was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020.

That’s when McDonald and St-Pierre crossed paths as the former Tiger serves as chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame and was the one to deliver that thrilling news.

“I got to phone her that she was the newest member of the Hockey Hall of Fame two years ago and then the induction last year,” said McDonald. “What a great supporter of Hockey Canada and the game itself. She couldn’t be at the announcement [Wednesday] because she was out coaching a hockey school for kids and making sure kids are involved in this great game.”

As for Lafleur, he has gone down as one of the greatest players in NHL history and still holds the Canadiens’ franchise record for points with 1,276 to go along with his five Stanley Cups.

Competitors for much of their careers, McDonald was able to get to know Lafleur during their time internationally and wowed at his offensive flair even when lining up across from each other.

“He would be flying up the right wing beating a defenceman and you felt like you should stand up and cheer but saying, ‘Oh no, he’s on the other side,’” said McDonald. “He was on that team in ’76 and I got to know Guy quite well and the perennial smile on his face just from loving the game.”

Even through all the personal success, McDonald praised the work that his support system provided over his career and beyond from coaches, to billets, to scouts and his family in the role they have played to help him achieve his hockey dreams.

A passion which still burns bright for the Tigers legend decades after his retirement.

“We owe so much to the game,” said McDonald. “We love the game, I’m a huge fan of the game, I go to as many games here in Calgary as possible. But, to be able to be a part of Hockey Canada for years and years now as a general manager, as a player, as director of player personnel and then just cheering them on as a fan as well, you can’t even describe the words.”

McDonald, St-Pierre and Lafleur will be officially recognized at the Hockey Canada Foundation Gala & Golf Tournament in June in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

by Scott Roblin

Tigers icon McDonald ‘stunned’ to receive Order of Hockey in Canada

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