NHL legend’s visit to Wheat City helps hospital

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Lanny McDonald — the NHL great with one of the most recognizable moustaches in sports — was the honoured guest Sunday afternoon at a fundraiser for the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation.

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This article was published 24/09/2017 (2376 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Lanny McDonald — the NHL great with one of the most recognizable moustaches in sports — was the honoured guest Sunday afternoon at a fundraiser for the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation.

Though he bristled at the suggestion he was a “superstar,” spinning his head to see if Wayne Gretzky showed up, more than 150 people were clearly satisfied it was McDonald regaling the audience in the packed dining room at the Victoria Landing Retirement Residence.

Due to donations, an autographed jersey raffle and the money tied to McDonald’s wrister hitting targets with a puck, nearly $1,600 was raised toward projects next door at the Brandon Regional Health Centre.

Ian Froese/The Brandon Sun
Former NHL star Lanny McDonald speaks at a fundraiser for the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation hosted at the Victoria Landing Retirement Residence on Sunday.
Ian Froese/The Brandon Sun Former NHL star Lanny McDonald speaks at a fundraiser for the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation hosted at the Victoria Landing Retirement Residence on Sunday.

McDonald drew laughs and nods of remembrance when the man with the bushy moustache shared his memories from a 16-year Hockey Hall of Fame-worthy career.

He spoke of bruiser Tiger Williams going toe-to-toe with Bob Kelly. It was an even fight, but Williams didn’t see it that way in the Toronto Maple Leafs dressing room, suggesting Kelly landed just a single strike.

When a teammate asked Williams to look in the mirror, he saw his face so bruised it was like he got struck repeatedly by a hammer, McDonald recalled.

Williams wasn’t willing to concede much.

“I know I got him 50 times, he must have got a good one.”

McDonald shared another tale of a time he played under Don Cherry in Colorado. Not the best bench boss around, McDonald thought, but a man you would go through a wall for since you liked him so much.

Once, a reporter rushed too fast into Cherry’s office for the liking of Grapes’ dog Blue, that responded by chomping at the intruder’s leg.

Cherry got up, didn’t bother to help the reporter, and shouted to his team, “Guys, that’s what I want you guys to play like out there, hungry.”

McDonald loved sharing stories like that. He preferred to speak about the people he met and friends he made rather than any tales of goals and assists, he said.

“Sometimes whether it’s in life or in sport, it’s as much fun having the teammates you have and the camaraderie you have, just like everyone is here together,” he said, referring to the residents gathered at Victoria Landing. “It would be pretty lonely if you’re all here by yourself.”

When pressed on his favourite on-ice accomplishment, he said it was winning the Stanley Cup in 1989 with the Calgary Flames in his final season.

They won hockey’s holy grail at the Montreal Forum, the only visiting team to beat the Montreal Canadiens to capture the Stanley Cup at the historic rink, which was torn down in 1996.

Ian Froese/The Brandon Sun
Former NHL star Lanny McDonald shakes hands with Lorna Aimoe, the mother of his former Medicine Hat Tigers teammate Randy, at Victoria Landing Retirement Residence on Sunday. Lorna Aimoe is joined by her daughters, Ramona Stanton, centre, and Jocelyn Williamson, right.
Ian Froese/The Brandon Sun Former NHL star Lanny McDonald shakes hands with Lorna Aimoe, the mother of his former Medicine Hat Tigers teammate Randy, at Victoria Landing Retirement Residence on Sunday. Lorna Aimoe is joined by her daughters, Ramona Stanton, centre, and Jocelyn Williamson, right.

“I was so happy when the Forum got torn down, because then we were the only ones to win it there,” he said, pumping his fist

in the air.

Money raised at the fundraiser helps the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation fund equipment and program needs at the hospital. Last year, it spent $1.3 million as a result of community support.

“I like to say that anybody who comes through those doors (of the hospital) will be touched by a piece of equipment that’s been purchased by donated money,” Cindy Buizer, the foundation’s executive director, said in an interview.

“The odds are that good,” added chair Linda Noto.

All Seniors Care, the nationwide seniors residence company that owns Victoria Landing, put on the fundraiser.

» ifroese@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ianfroese

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