May 27th 1993

It is hard to believe it has been eighteen years to the day that the Toronto Maple Leafs travelled to Los Angeles to play the Kings in game six of the Campbell Conference Final. I can remember that evening like it was yesterday; I was in the midst of completing grade 10 at Sir Oliver Mowat Collegiate, looking for a hockey team to play for in the fall and just being the odd ball teenager that I was. The one constant during that spring was watching the Maple Leafs make a playoff run that I had yet to witness in my nearly sixteen years of life at the time.

The run was lead by the late Pat Burns behind the bench, along with key contributions coming from numerous players like Wendel Clark, Felix Potvin right through to Nikolai Borchevsky, but none more so than Doug Gilmour. It was a team that had bonded as the year progressed into the playoffs with the club upsetting the Detroit Red Wings in seven games of the opening round and then knocking off the St.Louis Blues in a hard fought seven game series. The series vs the Kings was similar to the first two with both teams going back and forth and stealing key victories on the road; things looked to be on the up when Glenn Anderson scored in overtime of game five putting the Maple Leafs in a position they had not been in since 1967 as they were one win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.

Game six was one that will not be forgotten by many fans who followed the series since it essentially summed up how the series itself had gone. Back and forth, numerous penalties and plenty of goals going both ways. With the Maple Leafs trailing late, Burns pulled Felix Potvin and had Wendel Clark join the play as the extra attacker. It was a move the worked to a ‘t’ as Doug Gilmour spotted Clark skating towards the high slot and feathered a pass onto Clark’s Sher-Wood stick like he had countless of times since joining the Maple Leafs in January of 1992. Clark wasted little time and fired a snap shot over Kelly Hrudey’s shoulder for his third goal of the night. The goal sent the Maple Leafs bench and fans watching the game into a frenzy. With momentum was on the Maple Leafs side as  it looked as though the impossible was going to be happen and club would complete the comeback in overtime thus setting the stage for an epic Stanley Cup Final vs. the Montreal Canadiens who had recently disposed of the upstart New York Islanders earlier in the week.  

As the game was winding down Glenn Anderson took one of the most selfish penalties when he drilled Rob Blake from behind into the boards, this gave the Kings a power play heading into overtime and a chance to set up their game plan during the intermission. As the overtime started the Maple Leafs sent out the likes of the late Peter Zezel and Gilmour to get the penalty killed and give the hockey club the chance to put enough pressure and pucks in front of kelly Hrudey. It was a task that was more than attainable given the wide open action taking place in the series. It was not long into the overtime that the Kings were looking to set up a play with Wayne Gretzky controlling the puck on the half wall, as his line mates moved around the ice to provide outlets for #99. It was during this time that Gretzky lost control and found himself in a battle for the loose puck with Gilmour. In the midst of both players making an effort to gain control of the puck and the play, Gretzky’s stick came up and clipped Gilmour under the chin, opening a wound in the process. As the rules were during this time in the National Hockey League, any major penalty for high sticking wasn’t just a five minute penalty it also resulted in a game misconduct.  Most in the Fabulous Forum that night knew the rule, especially Gretzkty himself and the look on his face said it all. Sensing an early trip to the showers, Gretzky milled sheepishly around the ice as the officials consulted on the play and how to call it. It was rare to see #99 stray from any interaction with the officials given his well known habit for voicing his opinion with them on a regular basis. Kerry Fraser was the lead official that night and the onus was him to make the call. For reasons that we will probably never really know, Fraser decided the play was a mistake and Gretzky was off the hook of an infraction being called. Sensing that he had gotten away with one, Gretzky wasted little time in making up for his gaffe and pounced on a  loose puck in front of the Maple Leafs net and scored the game winner sending the series back to Toronto for game seven.

The loss was one that the Maple Leafs tried to shake off and regroup heading into game seven two days later at Maple Leaf Gardens. The non call hit the Maple Leafs hard and gave Gretzky and the Kings a boost that would carry them to victory as they eliminated the Maple Leafs in the final game. It was a play that altered the outlook of the series like no other and left many fans following to wonder as to what could have been, not just for the Maple Leafs but for the league in general as a classic match-up with the Montreal Canadiens would have been something the league would have thrived off with the amount of exposure it would have created. Hockey is a game that many analyze and follow, while there were many factors that hindered the Maple Leafs falling short vs. the Kings in 1993, most will agree letting Gretzky off the hook sealed the fate for the boys in Blue on that spring evening on May 27, 1993.