Lanny and Transcendency

As many of you can relate to, the mail is almost an event when we’re waiting for a card to arrive or a package from SGC or PSA.

We wait with great anticipation and, for me, it’s almost like being a kid again during the holidays. 

Last week, I wasn’t expecting anything, however. 

So, when a bubble mailer showed up in the mailbox my mind scrambled to place it. 

I hadn’t bought anything off Ebay, and I don’t do too many breaks anymore, so I instantly thought it might be one of the hundreds of redemptions I’ve sent in over the past few years, finally arriving. 

If that was the case, then that would be worthy of a column in this publication, without a doubt.

So, I rushed inside, grabbed my box cutter and sliced the envelope open. 

It was not anything from Panini or Upper Deck, so the black hole that is redemptions continues, but what it was nearly brought me to tears… Lanny McDonald, from Upper Deck’s The Cup, signed in silver ink.

I had to take a step back. 

A small noter accompanied the card — “From Nate… XOXO, Moose”

These are literally two of my favorite human beings in the entire hobby, perhaps even on the planet, ever. 

For those of you who don’t know, Lanny McDonald is my favorite player, any sport, any era, of all time. 

Sure, he has the best mustache in history, and sure he’s a NHL Hall of Famer, but for me, it’s more than just these facts that makes me a McDonald fan,

You see, when I was a young kid, my uncle took me to my first Red Wings game. We got to the arena early so we could see the pregame skate, and like every other kid there, we smashed our faces against the glass and watched these NHL guys skate before the game. 

I was a shy kid, and always on the chunky side so when the glass around the Wings filled up, I was not the type to push my way in and get a spot. 

So, I walked down to the opposing team’s side of the rink and settled in, watching the Calgary Flames get ready for the game. 

A few minutes after mashing myself against the Plexiglass, one of the players pointed directly at me and motioned with his hand to wait one minute. I watched him skate back to the Flames bench.

At first, I thought he was looking at someone else, well, because I was nothing more than a wallflower, albeit a large one, on most days. 

But after looking around and seeing no one else near, I deduced he was looking at me. 

Not long after that, he skated up to the glass where I was and gave me smile, his bushy mustache reaching ear-to-ear, then tossed a puck up into the air. 

I tracked it as it soared over the boards and caught it with both hands, squeezing it as tight as I could. 

He gave me a “thumbs up,” after my catch then skated away, joining the team in the warm up skate. 

It was an official puck, all scuffed and beat up, and in the middle of the puck, over the NHL logo was Lanny McDonald’s autograph. 

I was blown away then, and I’m blown away still, whenever I think about that night. 

I kept the puck in a display case for years, until my parent’s messy divorce years later, when things got ugly and my dad somehow ended up with the puck.

I haven’t seen him or the puck since.

He called me once, however, five or so years after he left, offering to trade me the puck for a camera he thought I had taken. I didn’t have the camera and I still don’y have the puck. 

That doesn’t matter now, though. 

What does matter is that Lanny McDonald, all his cards and memorabilia stuff I can find, I try and collect. It transcends the hobby to me.

So when someone like Nate and Moose combine to send me something like an autographed Cup card, it’s special.

I don’t care about the monetary value at all. The sentimental value is what counts. 

Who or what transcends the hobby for you?