Gretzky finally reveals who was responsible for robbing the Leafs of a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in '93
Photo credit: Sportskeeda/NHL
There is no doubt that Wayne Gretzky is the greatest player to ever lace up the skates. His goal record of 894 may be surpassed by Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin before he calls it a career, but there is no chance anyone will be able to beat the 2,857 points that Gretzky scored in only 1,487 games.
Earlier this week, The Great One sat down with the guys from the Spittin' Chiclets podcast, who picked his brain about anything and everything - including one of the biggest games of his career, which Gretzky revealed happened because one of the most popular NHL Insiders of all time, the original Insider, Bob McKenzie.
The LA Kings were facing some turmoil in their third round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1993 playoffs. Coming off of a bad Game 5 performance and facing elimination, TSN's Bob McKenzie wrote a piece carving Gretzky, with one quote in specific that set Gretzky off.
"Gretzky looked as though he were skating with a piano on his back."
The Great One admitted that the comment lit a fire under him and, ultimately, the Kings went on to eliminate Toronto in seven games.
"I took it personally. In those days, there's no social media, right? You read the papers. So we're playing Toronto, Game 5. Next day were flying from Toronto to LA and I'm reading the Toronto Sar or Toronto Sun, 'Wayne Gretzky's got a piano on his back'. I'm like, 'oh my God'. So, I went up to Barry Melrose and said 'am I playing that bad?' Barry replies 'no, no, no you're okay, you're okay'. I knew I was playing bad. I took it personally. So then I score the overtime goal in game six, and then the best game I ever played in my life was game seven in Toronto."
In game seven, Gretzky would score a hat trick an add an assist in a 5-4 victory to eliminate the Leafs. After all of the years throughout a legendary career as an Insider and analyst, Bob McKenzie's greatest exploit is quite arguably the Leafs' greatest downfall. How about that?
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 28 | 840 ANSWERS Gretzky finally reveals who was responsible for robbing the Leafs of a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in '93 Do you think anyone can catch Wayne Gretzky's goal record? | ||
| Yes, Alex Ovechkin is going to do it | 186 | 22.1 % |
| Yes, Auston Matthews is going to do it | 339 | 40.4 % |
| No, it won't be beat | 315 | 37.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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