Hockey Legend Brings Stanley Cup to Surprise Calgary Policeman Who Saved His Life

Former Calgary Flames co-captain and Hockey Hall of Famer Lanny McDonald (L) and Const. Jose Cives pose while holding the Stanley Cup at an event in Calgary on May 31, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Ho-calgaryflames.com-Ryan Dittrick)

Hockey legend Lanny McDonald says he wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for a Calgary policeman who resuscitated him after he collapsed from a cardiac arrest in February this year.

“To be able to come here today, I owe my life right there to Jose,” said Mr. McDonald, referring to Constable Jose Cives of the Calgary Police Service. The Hockey Hall of Fame forward, 71, was speaking at a Calgary Police Association fundraiser on May 31 where he paid Constable Cives a surprise visit.

Mr. McDonald, who co-captained the Calgary Flames to a Stanley Cup crown in 1989, showed up not only with former teammates Tim Hunter, Colin Patterson, and Rick Wamsley, but also with a special guest—the Stanley Cup.

The Stanley Cup was passing through Calgary on May 31, and Mr. McDonald decided to bring it along with him to the event—all to say thank you to the man who saved his life.

“Well, he is a local hero,” Mr. McDonald said in an interview with Calgary Flames TV. “Jose saved my life along with two beautiful nurses that jumped in when I had my cardiac arrest.”

“To be able to bring the Cup here when it was in town, and it just happened to be their fundraising event here as well—they had no idea it was coming,” he said.

‘Wasn’t Going to Stop’

At the fundraiser, Constable Cives recalled the incident that took place at the Calgary International Airport on Feb. 4.

“I got a call over the radio whereby I was informed that an adult male had collapsed, possibly a heart attack,” he told Calgary Flames TV. “I raced down to [the] location they had given me, automatically took over from a male that was doing chest compressions, and continued from there on after.”

He said attempts to revive Mr. McDonald seemed to be failing at various points, but he didn’t want to give up.

“I’m told that we worked on him for 10 minutes solid, together with the use of an AED [automated external defibrillator],”  the officer said. “There were many a times when I thought that Lanny wasn’t going to make it through, but I wasn’t going to stop until I got some sort of result.”

Mr. McDonald eventually came around and was attended by emergency medical services, according to the constable, in a Calgary Flames news release on May 31.

The two have since become friends.

‘A Lot of Laughs’

“We go for coffee, we laugh, we cry, we share stories back and forth, and to find out a little bit more about his family—three kids, lives down in Okotoks,” Mr. McDonald said in the interview, referring to the town south of Calgary where the constable lives.

“[He] didn’t want any fanfare at all—he just says, like ‘I was doing my job.’”

Constable Cives says he and Mr. McDonald “get along brilliantly” in their friendship.

“We have a lot of laughs,” the officer said in the interview. “There isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t remind me that I’m the man that broke him, his ribs, his sternum. But on the flip side, he always tells me that he’s forever thankful that I was one of the people that saved his life.”

Mr. McDonald says that for him and his teammates to be able to surprise the Calgary police officers at their fundraiser, “knowing they make such a difference in the community, it’s so rewarding. And what a great way to thank Jose.”

“This is our 35th anniversary of the Cup, and to be able to bring it here tonight is extremely special,” the Calgary Flames icon told the police officers at the event.

“Good for you for what you do in the community. We admire everything you guys do, and thank you for what you do each and every day.”