Leafs Kings 1993
Really, it couldn't have been better scripted - except for the ending.
On May 29, 1993, the Toronto Maple Leafs were just one win away from a trip to the Stanley Cup finals, where they had not ventured since the triumph of 1967. Waiting for them were the Montreal Canadiens, their great historic rivals, in the midst of an unexpected playoff run that would eventually take them all the way to a championship.
Twice already, the Maple Leafs had shown a flair for the dramatic, winning playoff series in the seventh game against the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues, and their fans filled the streets in celebration. Now, with the Cup so close, the whole town seemed set to explode. Only one small problem for Doug Gilmour, Wendel Clark, Felix Potvin and company, the best Leafs team in a long, long time, and their inspirational head coach Pat Burns: sitting on the visitors' bench wearing the uniform of the Los Angeles Kings was Wayne Gretzky, arguably the greatest hockey player of all time.
Leafs fans will tell you that they should have won the series in game six in Los Angeles - that they were robbed when Gretzky accidentally slashed Gilmour in the face in overtime, drew blood, somehow didn't receive even a minor penalty, and then scored the winner a few seconds later.
In game seven, though, there was no real controversy. Gretzky was magnificent, scoring three times, but the Leafs refused to fold, fighting back again and again. In the final seconds, trailing 5-4, with the Gardens' crowd as loud as it had ever been during the building's long history, they pushed desperately for the tying goal, only to finally be denied.
It was a heartbreaking finale to an unforgettable hockey spring in Toronto. So close. So agonizingly, tortuously, close.
-Stephen Brunt
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Toronto Plaques. Full page here.