FN’s All-Time Greatest Flames Team: Lanny McDonald

When you think of the Calgary Flames history, you think of a Stanley Cup win and a talented man with epic mustache that helped make it all possible.

The latest member of FlamesNation’s All-Time Flames Team is the man that (co-)captained the Flames to the 1989 Stanley Cup in his last season, and set the team’s single-season goal-scoring record in his first full season with the franchise.

That’s right, it’s Lanny McDonald.

Lanny McDonald is arguably best known league-wide as a Toronto Maple Leafs – given how Leaf-centric the country can be – but he came to Calgary via the Colorado Rockies. Upon arriving in Calgary in the fall of 1981, McDonald immediately took charge and did whatever he could to win games. He could score. He could fight. He could set guys up for nice goals. He wore a letter everywhere he went. He had an awesome mustache.

In short: Lanny McDonald was two things: really great, and adaptable. He came into Calgary and sandwiched a pair of 30-goal seasons around a 60-goal season. His 66-goal effort in 1982-83 still stands as the Flames franchise record. Even when injuries and aged slowed him down, McDonald remained a productive player, and an on and off-ice mentor for the team’s young players – who took over the scoring reins as McDonald began to take more of a back-seat.

With the game tied 1-1, McDonald scored a goal in Game 6 of the 1989 Stanley Cup Final to give Calgary a lead. The Flames led from then-on, and won the game and the championship. It was the last game Lanny McDonald ever played, as he hoisted the Cup and retired in the off-season. Not a bad way to go out.

There are very few players in the sporting world that can be remembered by a single name. In the National Hockey League, there’s only one “Lanny.” Whether it be his leadership, his offensive prowess or his distinctive mustache, Lanny McDonald’s place in NHL and Calgary Flames history is very much cemented.

In short: Lanny McDonald is an example of on (and off) ice leadership that players in the Flames organization still aspire towards.