1993 Stanley Cup Final

Lore & Background

The series is remembered for Kings defenceman Marty McSorley's penalty late in the third period of game two for using an illegal stick, in what proved to be the turning point in the 1993 Cup Finals. When McSorley entered the penalty box, Los Angeles held a 1–0 series lead, and a 2–1 score in the contest. The Canadiens then went on to score the equalizer on the ensuing power play, won game two in overtime, and then defeated the Kings in the next three games to win the Cup. From the moment that McSorley was called for the penalty, the Kings failed to win another postseason game for the remainder of the 20th century. Their next postseason win did not come until 2001, against the Detroit Red Wings.

In Their Own Story

The Forum smelled like popcorn and old ice. The kind of cold that settles in your knuckles when you grip a railing and watch the players warm up, their skates carving white crescents into the surface. I was twelve. My father had taken me to a dozen games that season, always in the same section, always in the same purple jersey with the number 14 on the back—Robitaille, though I didn't know the name yet, just the face on the jumbotron.

Game 7. The Canadiens had won three straight. My dad kept saying, 'It's over, kid. Let's get a hot dog.' I wasn't listening. I was watching the goalie warm up, the way his glove hand tapped the ice, the way the crowd noise rose and fell like a tide. When the Kings scored in the second period, the sound was not a cheer. It was a detonation. A wall of sound that I felt in my sternum. My father grabbed my shoulders. He was smiling, but his eyes were wet, and I didn't understand why until the final horn.

The players skated to the corner. The banner came down. The confetti was gold and it landed on my father's hair, on my father's hat, on the hot dog he'd never eaten. He held the Cup up—just for a second, just a fraction of a second, a fan's hand on the silver band—and I swear the whole arena held its breath. Then the roar came back, and it didn't stop for a very long time.

Reader's Guide

The Kings reached the finals by defeating the Calgary Flames in the Smythe Division Semifinals 4–2, the Vancouver Canucks in the Smythe Division Finals 4–2, and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Campbell Conference Finals 4–3. The Canadiens defeated the Quebec Nordiques in the Adams Division Semifinals 4–2, the Buffalo Sabres in the Adams Division Finals 4–0, and the New York Islanders in the Wales Conference Finals 4–1. Game one: Kings won 4–1. Game two: Canadiens won in overtime. Game three: Canadiens won in overtime. Game four: Canadiens won in overtime. Game five: Canadiens won at the Montreal Forum to clinch the series.

Did You Know?

• This was the first appearance in the Final for the Kings and the first appearance since the 1920 Stanley Cup Final for a team based on the west coast of the United States.
• The 1993 Canadiens are the last Stanley Cup championship team to be composed solely of North American-born players.
• The 1993 Canadiens are the last Canadian-based team to win the Stanley Cup.
• Eric Desjardins is the first and only defenceman to score a hat trick in the Cup Finals.
• John LeClair became the first player since Maurice Richard in 1951 to score playoff overtime goals in consecutive games.