CALGARY — Lanny McDonald has always had a flair for the dramatic.
Especially when his Flames are playing the Montreal Canadiens.
No Calgary hockey fan will ever forget the final goal of his Hall of Fame career, which came in the clincher of the Flames’ lone Stanley Cup win that fateful night in the Montreal Forum.
And no one at the Saddledome Saturday night will forget the moment he gave fans during the first TV timeout of a matchup he helped make famous.
Returning to the Dome for the first time since a cardiac event at the Calgary airport nearly ended his life six weeks earlier, the 71-year-old icon prompted a stirring ovation as he was introduced to the crowd.
They stood, he waved, and everyone in the building soaked in a moment that wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for the quick actions of two nurses who happened to be passing by minutes after he got off a plane from the NHL All-Star Game.
Even the large number of young Habs fans in attendance, who were likely aware of the heartache Lanny caused in 1989, stood in unison.
Players on both benches turned to see him perched in the owners’ box, acutely aware of the significance of a TV timeout interruption the game’s participants generally ignore.
“It was great,” beamed current captain, Mikael Backlund, who has leaned on Lanny for plenty of advice.
“Super excited to see him back in the building.
“I texted a little bit with him when he was sick and not doing well, so it’s good to see him recovering and being back and out and about.
“I know how much he means to this city and this organization. He’s around a lot and its always great to see him.
“He’s such a great person and he cares so much about the city and the Flames organization.
“I can’t thank Lanny enough for what he does for the community, the City of Calgary and for our team.”
As the ultimate ambassador for a team he hasn’t played for in 35 years, McDonald has quietly gone about building relationships with players with an eye on helping them out.
It’s no coincidence the Flames responded to his presence by beating Montreal 5-2 on a night McDonald and the 1989 Cup team were being honoured.
“It was scary what happened to him, so it was good to see him back smiling and being back in the building with us,” said Jonathan Huberdeau after the game.
“He’s a model for me since I got here. You can see how good of a person he is and it shows.
“With all the struggles since I got here, he was the one reaching out to me, lot of nice texts and being positive with me. Couple nice chats. That means a lot. When you’re going through these kind of phases it’s always good to have these guys supporting you and he was one of them.”
Beaming with support after Huberdeau’s dandy dishes set up Martin Pospisil and Nazem Kadri for goals to compliment Backlund’s pair, McDonald also appeared to get quite a kick out of the game’s first star, Dustin Wolf.
Having long made a point of reaching out to young Flames after they’re drafted, helping usher in the next era of Calgary’s players, McDonald enjoyed every one of Wolf’s 36 saves to get the Flames within six points of the Vegas Knights for a wild card spot.
“I’m just trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get right now and two wins in a row was pretty crucial for our group,” said Wolf, a huge fan favourite.
“I was trying to stay as dialled in as a I can, but obviously he’s a very important figure here and he’s had some stuff go down the last couple months. Obviously prayers went out to him when it happened, but it’s awesome to see him back here.”
You can bet no one got more out of the moment than ol’ No. 9.
“I feel great,” he told Ryan Leslie on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, surrounded by a handful of his ’89 teammates who still call Calgary home.
“This reminds me of what happened in the hospital. We won in ’89, and the people that looked after me in the hospital, the nurses and doctors, they were unbelievable.
“Everyone has to come together to make it work, and that’s what these guys do every day for me.”
Even the coach got caught up in the emotion of it all.
“It was a cool thing,” said Ryan Huska.
“I normally don’t notice things on the bench but that one I did.
"He’s been a guy that’s traveled with us on some of our dad’s trips and he’s like a grandpa to a lot of the guys. They love having him around.
“He’s just such a great person to have around. He means so much to this city and this organization.
“It was really nice to see him back in here again tonight, and it was even better to see the type of emotion that the crowd had for him as well.”
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