Hockey Hall of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald is pictured near the Stanley Cup following a news conference in Toronto on Tuesday June 27, 2017. McDonald suffered a cardiac event Sunday after returning from the NHL's all-star game in Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
CALGARY – Hockey Hall of Famer Lanny McDonald suffered a cardiac event Sunday after returning from the NHL’s all-star game in Toronto.
The 70-year-old wrote in an Instagram post Monday on the Calgary Flames alumni account that two nurses heading to their own flights at Calgary International Airport helped him when he was in distress.
“It’s true that even tough old guys need help sometimes,” McDonald said in the post.
In the stress of the moment, McDonald’s wife Ardell didn’t get the nurses’ names.
“We are eternally grateful for their care and action . . . I owe them my life,” McDonald said.
He said he was in hospital Monday receiving care from doctors and nurses and looking forward to Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
“While I hang out here as the professionals figure out next steps for the ol’ ticker, I’ll try to convince the team here to bet on the Chiefs next Sunday and never stop cheering for our Flames.”
McDonald of Hanna, Alta., had 500 goals and 506 assists in 1,111 games over 17 NHL seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Flames.
The forward was co-captain of the Flames and the squad’s emotional leader when Calgary won the Stanley Cup in 1989.
McDonald was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992. He was named to the Order of Canada in 2022.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2024.
