1974-75 O-Pee-Chee Lanny McDonald Rookie Card

His number is retired by the Calgary Flames. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was the fourth overall pick in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft. He played in the Stanley Cup finals twice, winning once. His rookie hockey card was one of the highlights of the 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee set.

Who?

Lanny McDonald – of course!

Just the fact:

• The Lanny McDonald rookie card appears in the 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee series.
• The first McDonald hockey card is valued at $25.
• Lanny scored 66 goals in 1982-83 with the Flames – 2nd behind Wayne Gretzky’s 71.
• McDonald won the Stanley Cup with Calgary in 1988-89.
• Lanny became a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.

The Lanny McDonald rookie card appeared in the 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee set as number 168. The card is valued by Beckett Hockey Monthly at $25. the set consisted of 396 cards with a complete set valued at $500 and a common card going for $2. The toast of the series was the rookie cards of head coaches Don Cherry of the Boston Bruins and Scotty Bowman of the Montreal Canadiens.

McDonald was fresh off his rookie season with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1973-74. Lanny was the fourth overall pick at the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft, going to the Maple Leafs. He played his junior hockey with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL where he placed third in the league with 139 points in 1972-73. Lanny was also the tenth overall pick at the WHA Amateur Draft in 1973, going to the Cleveland Crusaders.

Lanny played 1,111 regular season National Hockey League games between 1973-74 to 1988-89 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames. He finished his career with exactly 500 goals and 1,006 points. On four occasions, he placed among the top ten goal scorers in the NHL. In 1976-77, he was fifth with 46; In 1977-78, he was fourth with 47; In 1978-79, he was sixth with 43; In 1982-83, with Calgary, he was second with 66, just five goals less than league leader Wayne Gretzky.

McDonald’s two visits to the Stanley Cup finals both came with the Calgary Flames and both came against the Montreal Canadiens. In 1985-86, the Flames lost to the Habs in the finals. In 1988-89, his final season in the NHL, the Flames got their revenge, beating Montreal for their only Stanley Cup championship to date.

In 1990, Calgary honoured Lanny by retiring his jersey number 9. Two years later, in 1992, McDonald was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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