Welcome to our series on who wore each number best for the Penguins.
The idea is being openly borrowed from our new hockey writer, Cody Tucker, and his project at the Lansing State Journal covering all the uniform numbers worn through Michigan State football history, one that’s been well received by their readers and prompted heavy discussion and debate.
Under the organization of Taylor Haase, and following the voting of a big chunk of our staff, we’ll publish one new one each day until completion, which should be right around the start of training camp.
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Name: Lowell MacDonald
Number: 18
Position: Right Wing
Born: Aug. 30, 1941 in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
Seasons with Penguins: 1970-1978
Statistics with Penguins: 328 games, 140 goals, 166 assists in regular season; 15 games, 6 goals, 4 assists in playoffs
WHY MacDONALD?
Only two players in Penguins history have won the Masterton Trophy. Obviously, Mario Lemieux was a deserving recipient in 1992-93 when he overcame his battle with cancer. But so too was Lowell MacDonald, 20 years earlier.
MacDonald certainly "exemplified the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."
The Penguins' first -- but not last -- star from Nova Scotia, MacDonald played three seasons for the Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL in the mid-'60s while he was unable to crack the lineup of the Detroit Red Wings in the then-six team NHL. In 1965 he was dealt to Toronto but toiled for two seasons in the minors with Tulsa in the Central League.
Thanks to the NHL's 1967 expansion from six teams to 12, MacDonald landed full-time work at the highest level. He was Los Angeles' 16th-round pick in the expansion draft and scored 21 goals his rookie season and 14 the next. But due to his fear of flying, he was ready to walk away from the game. Playing in Los Angeles, an outpost at the time, air travel was part of the job description.
MacDonald sat out the 1969-70 season while working on his college degree in the Canadian Maritimes but still managed to play 14 games for the Kings' affiliate in Springfield, Mass.
In the summer of '70, Penguins GM/coach Red Kelly, his former coach in Los Angeles, lured MacDonald to Pittsburgh in part due to the shorter flights. Unfortunately, an old knee injury resurfaced, limiting him to 10 games in 1970-71 and forcing him to sit out the entire 1971-72 season.
This time, coaxed into coming back by his wife, Joyce, MacDonald made the Penguins lineup at the start of the '72-'73 season and rewarded Kelly with 34 goals, 41 assists and a plus-37 rating while placed on a line with budding stars Syl Apps and Al McDonough.
The following season, Kelly placed MacDonald on a line with Apps and Jean Pronovost on what would become known as the Century Line. MacDonald, nicknamed the Mad Hatter for his penchant for recording hat tricks, scored a then-club record 43 goals to go along with 39 assists for 82 points while appearing in his second straight All-Star game.
His goal production dipped to 27 goals in 1974-75 and then 30 the following season. He played just three games in 1976-77 after undergoing his seventh knee injury. He played just 19 games in 1977-78, finally hanging up his skates for good at age 37.
Playing in an era where bench-clearing brawls were common, MacDonald had just 92 penalty minutes in his career. At the time he retired, MacDonald ranked behind Apps and Pronovost as the Penguins' all-time leading scorer. He now ranks 23rd.
WHAT'S HE DOING NOW?
At last check, the 76-year-old MacDonald was still living in Nova Scotia with his wife Joyce. From 1978-96, he served as 
the head coach at University School Milwaukee where he compiled a record of 263-180-17. He was inducted into the Wisconsin Hockey Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016. Joyce and Lowell's one son, Lowell MacDonald Jr., has been a TV producer for Penguins broadcasts. Their other son, Lane MacDonald, won the 1989 Hobey Baker Award while helping Harvard to the national championship that season. A year earlier, he represented the United States at the Calgary Olympic Games. Lane MacDonald was a third-round pick of the Calgary Flames in 1985 but his career was cut short by concussions. He was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005.
IT WAS SPOKEN
“I have great memories here. Coming back and justifying Red's faith was the highlight. I keep meaning to call him and tell him thank you again because I don’t think anyone would have stuck with me the way Red did.” -- MacDonald on Red Kelly, his coach in Pittsburgh.
“We had some great times and some great collisions because unfortunately, Prony and I, Syl used to tell us ‘would you please stay on your own sides so I can feel safe. It’s safer playing against the Flyers than it is playing against you two guys.’ Prony was pretty versatile, too. He would come over to my side and I would just go over to his.” -- MacDonald, on being a natural right wing while playing left wing on the Century Line.
HONORABLE MENTIONS AT NO. 18
Francois Leroux
Craig Simpson
James Neal
Ross Lonsberry
Any debate?
Not much.
Leroux became a cult hero in the mid-'90s for his fisticuffs but wasn't much of a player. Simpson, Neal and Lonsberry have or have had very good careers but are best remembered elsewhere.
Tomorrow: DK has No. 19.
Yesterday: Rick Kehoe
