1993 Stanley Cup

During their playoff run, the Los Angeles Kings played against Canadian teams all throughout the playoffs:

1. Calgary Flames
2. Vancouver Canucks
3. Toronto Maple Leafs
4. Montreal Canadiens

1992–93 Los Angeles Kings:

• The highlight of the season involved appearing in the Stanley Cup Finals.
• The Kings were the most penalized team during the regular season, being shorthanded 529 times.
• They also finished with 2,855 shots on goal during the regular season, second only to the Boston Bruins.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

• Conference Finals Game 1 - Los Angeles blue-liner Marty McSorley delivered a serious open ice hit on Toronto's Doug Gilmour. Leafs captain Wendel Clark took exception to the hit and went after McSorley for striking their star player. Toronto coach Pat Burns tried scaling the bench to get at Los Angeles coach Barry Melrose because he thought he ordered the hit on Gilmour.
• Toronto would take a 3–2 series lead after five games.
• Game 6 - During the 1992–93 season, there was a league-wide crackdown on high-sticking infractions, whether they were accidental or not. In Game 6, Gilmour was part of controversy once again. With the game tied at 4 in overtime, Wayne Gretzky accidentally clipped him in the face with the blade of his stick, while shooting a slap shot from the right face-off circle. Many thought that referee Kerry Fraser should have called a penalty on the play, but Gretzky was not penalized, and he went on to score the overtime goal moments later, evening the series at 3–3.
• Game 7 - He would score three goals in the deciding game to give Los Angeles a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals. Gretzky has been quoted as saying that his performance in Game 7 was the best NHL game of his career.

Montreal Canadiens:

• Stanley Cup Final - Los Angeles reached the finals for the first time in franchise history.
• In game one, the Kings romped over the Canadiens by a score of 4-1, with Luc Robitaille scoring twice on the powerplay.
• Game two, Los Angeles leading 2-1 in the game, Marty McSorley was penalized for having an illegal stick, as Montreal stormed back to win 3-2 in overtime.
• Following this, the Kings never recovered as Montreal would go on to win the next three games; two in overtime and one in regulation to capture their record-breaking 24th Stanley Cup championship.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992%E2%80%9393_Los_Angeles_Kings_season

1992-93 Team Photo
https://icehockey.fandom.com/wiki/1992%E2%80%9393_Los_Angeles_Kings_season

Marty McSorley:
McSorley had one job while playing with Gretzky in Edmonton and Los Angeles. That job was to be the Great One’s bodyguard. He earned 50% of his paycheck looking out for Gretzky and the other 50%? Making those opponents pay who crossed Gretzky’s path.

He made a living out of making the opposition feel uncomfortable and throwing fist when that opportunity arose.

Although he did provide some offense that was certainly not his game. His primary job was to be a defensive defenseman and protect his teammates.

Playing this type of game resulted in McSorley the NHL’s most penalized player in 1992-93 with 399 penalty minutes. He also surprised some people in the 1990-91 season by recording a +48, best in the NHL. He recorded 359 points (108-251) in 961 games. McSorley also recorded 3’381 penalty minutes.

McSorley was an underrated defenseman in the aspect that he had a dirty job and did it well. McSorley did the dirty things most would not do and put his face on the line every night. He never complained about ice time, never backed down from a fight or from a challenge.

https://www.laxsportsnation.com/2020/06/24/making-his-mark