HAPPY LANNY-VERSARY

It happened exactly 40 years ago today.
Back on Nov. 25, 1981, the Flames acquired the legendary Lanny McDonald in a trade from the Colorado Rockies .
"It's funny because we played Calgary the night before the deal happened and we lost 9-2," he explained. "I hadn't played for three weeks with a separated shoulder but because we were back home, I wanted to play in the game and so after the game, I was walking out to the car with my mom and dad when Al MacNeil and Pierre Page, who were coaches at that time with Calgary, walked by and said 'hey, keep your chin up, you never know when things will change.'

"I thought they were talking about the team, that it would get better or I'd get healthier, I had no clue they were talking about there's bigger change coming. I had no clue what that would look like.
"Sure enough, I get on the plane next morning, we fly to Winnipeg and then get off, I get called over by assistant coach Marshall Johnston and he tells me 'you're going back to Calgary.' And I said 'going back to Calgary? Who is sick?' Thinking it was something to do with my mom or dad. And that's when he said 'well, we traded you.'
"I called him every name in the book because your first thought when you get traded is that the team doesn't want you but then realize, oh, the other team does want you."

McDonald was acquired, along with a draft pick, in exchange for Bob MacMillan and Don Lever.
It definitely was an eventful 24 hours, going from playing against the Flames one night to being a member of the club in such short order.
And a quick return jaunt to Calgary.
"The team was going to the rink, but they wouldn't let me go on the team bus so I had to take a cab to get my equipment so I could jump back on a plane to go to Calgary," he recalled. "And the whole time I'm phoning Ardell who was in Colorado to tell her 'honey, get on a plane you have to fly to Calgary, we've been traded again.'
"I was so happy career wise going from a team that was in last to one that looked like they knew where they were going. It was so much fun to be back where I played in junior years before."
"It really was full-circle moment. You walk back in the dressing room and there's my old junior trainer Bearcat Murray as Flames head trainer. There was familiarity right off the bat which certainly helped."
It was certainly a different time, laughed Lanny.
"It's so different with social media now," he said. "Sometimes guys find out on TV even before they are notified and for mine to happen the way it did, even though it was a useless trip to Winnipeg, it was funny to look back on getting off the plane to holy, get back on the plane."