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The highlight-of-the-night got here early — with 53 minutes of recreation motion remaining — and wasn’t going to be topped.
Certain, there have been some sprawling saves from Dustin Wolf, a milestone marker for Mikael Backlund and beautiful assists by Blake Coleman and Jonathan Huberdeau, however nothing in comparison with a goosebumps-worthy second at Saturday’s first TV timeout, when the Calgary Flames’ devoted greeted franchise icon Lanny McDonald with a standing ovation.
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It was McDonald’s first look within the Saddledome since a cardiac occasion in early February. The Hockey Corridor-of-Famer was in hospital for 2 weeks, together with his 71st birthday.
“It was scary what occurred to him,” Huberdeau stated after a 5-2 victory over the visiting Montreal Canadiens. ”And it was good to see him again, smiling, and to be within the constructing with us.”
When McDonald was launched at that first industrial break, there have been 19,000 smiles within the rink.
That features 20-some on the house bench.
As the gang roared, McDonald waved and supplied an enthusiastic thumbs-up. It was a stirring scene.
“He’s an absolute legend and an absolute nice man and an enormous a part of this group,” stated Flames defenceman MacKenzie Weegar — a drive towards the Habs, with three assists — throughout an in-house intermission interview. “We’re very glad to see him again. He’s a fighter, so we knew that he’d be again very quickly, and that acquired us going for positive.”
“It was a cool factor,” echoed Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “I usually don’t discover these issues on the bench. However that one, I did. He’s been a man that has travelled with us on a few of our Dads’ Journeys. He’s been like … I don’t wish to say this, he’ll get mad at me … a grandpa to plenty of the fellows. Like, they love having him round.
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“Even the day after all of the stuff went on, he was texting me back-and-forth. He’s simply such an ideal individual to have round. He means a lot to this metropolis and group and it was very nice to see him again in right here tonight and it was even higher to see the kind of emotion that the gang had for him, as nicely.”
Certain was.
It was ’80s Evening on the Saddledome, an ideal excuse to play a couple of oldies over the speaker system and to pay tribute to the staff that raised Calgary’s lone Stanley Cup banner.
McDonald, a co-captain for the 1988-89 Flames, watched from a set with a half-dozen of his buddies from that championship crew — Tim Hunter, Jamie Macoun, Dana Murzyn, Joel Otto, Colin Patterson and Mike Vernon.
“I really feel nice truly,” McDonald stated on the Hockey Evening in Canada broadcast. “I’m again as much as strolling seven or eight kilometres a day and able to cheer on the staff.”
On this night time, there was loads to cheer about — objectives from Backlund (x2), Martin Pospisil, Nazem Kadri and Daniil Miromanov, a 36-save show-off from Wolf and perhaps even a sliver of hope that they shouldn’t be written off within the wildcard race. After back-to-back victories, each with Wolf between the pipes, the Flames are all of a sudden simply six factors out.
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However the loudest cheer was reserved for a well-recognized face who confirmed as much as root for his favorite staff. His. No. 9 hangs from the rafters, however he would possibly now be their No. 1 fan.
Thirty-five years after that Stanley Cup parade, McDonald stays as beloved a neighborhood as anyone who has ever referred to as this metropolis dwelling, not solely as a result of he stuffed the web throughout his taking part in heyday however as a result of he’s lengthy been a difference-maker for numerous charitable causes and group initiatives. When Beesley launched him Saturday as “the one, the one,” there was no dispute.
Whereas Huberdeau appears to have discovered his offensive groove, averaging near a point-per-game for the reason that calendar flipped to 2024 and establishing each Pospisil and Kadri for tap-ins towards the Habs, he revealed throughout his post-game media scrum that when it appeared he couldn’t purchase a objective or an help, he might all the time rely on an encouraging notice from McDonald.
“With all of the struggles since I acquired right here, he was the one which reaching out to me,” Huberdeau stated. “Quite a lot of good texts, attempting to all the time be constructive with me, a pair chats. Meaning rather a lot.”
You may guess that Saturday’s ovation meant rather a lot to Lanny.
“I used to be tremendous excited to see him again within the constructing,” stated Backlund, who joined Lanny — and a bunch of different marquee names — as solely the eleventh participant to attain 200 objectives on behalf of the Flames’ franchise. “I understand how a lot he means for this metropolis and for this group.”
“He’s been pal, I believe, to all of us,” Huska added. “Which is the best half.”
wgilbertson@postmedia.com
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