Possibly best known for his walrus like moustache more than anything he ever did on the ice, Lanny McDonald ended his professional career in about as perfect fashion as possible, by lifting up the Stanley Cup for the first time in his final game as a member of the Calgary Flames. Everywhere McDonald went, he proved to be productive player on the ice, and popular man with the fans. He is a 1,000 career point producer and twice was a Second Team All Star. As evidence of his perseverance, McDonald won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1983 and the respected King Clancy Award in 1988.   Lanny may not have been the best player in the game, but he was a player that everybody wanted to have on their team.

Granted, Keith Allen won a Stanley Cup Ring as a player with the Detroit Red Wings in 1954, but that was more for being at the right place at the right time, as the Defenceman only played 28 career games in the NHL and never got a goal. However, as often the case with career minor leaguers, they make outstanding coaches. Allen would become a successful coach in the Western Hockey League, and when the NHL expanded in 1967, he moved to Philadelphia to coach the Flyers. After Bud Polie stepped down as the General Manager, Allen stepped in and maintained the course that the Flyers were on. As such, Philadelphia became the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup (which they did in consecutive years) and Keith Allen would see his name etched on the Cup again. He would enter the Hall of Fame in the Builders category, primarily for his work with the “Broad Street Bullies”. It is funny how the NHL brass seemed to hate that team when they played, but so many of them (even those who put the squad together) got into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

With only a 23 game NHL career as a player with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Frank Mathers may not have had a stellar career in the National Hockey League, but was a “Crash Davis” type of player in the AHL. Mathers was a five time All Star there and retired as the all-time leading AHL scorer for Defencemen. In total, Mathers won a total of eight Calder Cups in the AHL; two as a player (Pittsburgh), two as a player/coach (Hershey), one as a coach (Hershey) and three as a general manager (again with Hershey).

Bob Johnson was a very successful coach at the University of Wisconsin, leading the Badgers to three NCAA championships, and internationally would be named the coach of three U.S. Canada Cup teams and the 1976 Olympic squad. His skills transferred well into the NHL, where he would take the Calgary Flames to the Stanley Cup Finals (where they lost to Montreal), and would be the man who coached the Mario Lemieux led Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 1991. Johnson would be the first American born coach to host the Cup in over fifty years.