As this spring marks the 20th anniversary of the Kings’ first Stanley Cup appearance, I’ll be catching up with members of that team to hear their recollections of the playoff run and will ask them to share their thoughts of their teammates and particular pivotal moments from April, May and June, 1993. Kelly Hrudey has already shared some of his memories of Game 7 of the Campbell Conference Finals in Toronto – a topic that will be revisited – and I have several interviews scheduled with other members of that team, with more to come. The feature will officially debut Monday morning.
I’d love some input from readers and commenters on this site – what would you like these recurring interviews to be named? We already have “Waking up with the Kings”, “Behold”, “Good Morning”, etc. I was leaning towards using a quote of Hrudey’s yesterday – “This feels right” – so that the interview with Jari Kurri would be called “This Feels Right: Jari Kurri”. I trust the readers of this blog to come up with something even better.
Was there a particular quote or a moment from that playoff run that seemed to represent the zeitgeist of that 1992-93 Kings team? Share it in the comments section, and I’ll chime in with a few ideas of my own. Ideal quotes or references would be no more than a few words as to fit on one line of the title bar, with the player’s name included and with no overhang. Hopefully we’ll be able to find the appropriate title that serves as a banner for all 1992-93 Kings discussion.
I’m too young to remember the Kings’ first SCF appearance (I was only 5 at the time), but as far as naming the segment, I’d say use a quote that sticks out to you as the headline.
There’s my 2 cents for the day.
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Uclaemt Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:25 pm
@shiny, Jon I like SCF, Take 1: player name
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Any rewards Jon for an entry you choose..Like can you talk Kings into a couple tickets…or A Kopitar Jersey …
BTW you are doing a superb job..serious…Im really enjoying your style…
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“A piano on his back”
“‘Fat’ Burns”
“L.A. vs. Canada”
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Duncanz Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:00 pm
@Michael J., How about, “Cali vs Canada!”, or …
“Mellie’s Maverick’s”
“McNall’s Magicians”
“Behind the Curve”
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JonRosen Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:16 pm
@Michael J., I like “Piano On His Back.” Would love to hear more!
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Michael J. Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:34 pm
@JonRosen,
Wasn’t it @TSNBobMcKenzie who said that 99 looked like he was skating with a piano on his back in a flawed attempt by said Hockey News columnist to rally the world against the Kings?
Well, Wayne proved him wrong!
Funny how things never change…
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Michael J. Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
@Michael J.,
John Hoven mentions it
http://mayorsmanor.com/2012/05/1993-looking-back-at-the-la-kings-vs-toronto-maple-leafs/
JonRosen Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:56 pm
@Michael J., Yes, it was Bob McKenzie – was he writing for the Toronto Star at the time? He may have been …. need to do a bit more research here, but that is a certain possibility. Eventually I’ll put this up for a vote once we nail it down to a few possible titles…
Duncanz Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 1:00 pm
@Michael J., I think sometimes (lol) in the defense of our hockey team we can be a bit touchy about the pundits observations about us.
Truthfully, Gretzky DID at times look like he was skating around under a tightly strapped Steinway!
Kenny44 Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 4:01 pm
@StuffitMr.ContrarianPantz
This is the same Mr. Gretzky that scored the OT winner in Game 6 to keep the WCF series alive? The Great One who finished off Vancouver with the prettiest slap shot on the rush you’ll ever see? The same #99 that churned Calgary into butter with his dishes from behind the net? Melrose was riding Gretz hard, sometimes he took some shifts a little lighter than others. That might have been the last time you could really get away with that, but they wanted their best player on the ice as much as possible.
I had season tickets in those days…One game President Reagan Nancy Goldie Hahn and Kurt Russell sat just in front of us…and the Kings won in the Stanly cup finals..first home game….What a night… The thrills to watch Gretzky set up in his office and just how exciting ghe kings were that year..The series with Toronto was almost as exciting as what happened last year..Last year was THE BEST ever . I had watched and waited for this since my first game in 1972.
So I’ll submit—-
Taste of success Thanks Mr Kurri—
Gretzky… Sets up in his office —when you interview him….
MCSorley Did last year help redeem you
Zhitnik…The only defenseman that could defend Bure
Coffey.. Mr Smooth
Rob Blake… Mr Hip Check himself
Lucky Luc…125 points as team leader
TOny Granado… Mr Clutch
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Duncanz Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:06 pm
@hip-check, That’s all good stuff but Coffey was gone to Detroit before the end of the season.
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Michael J. Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:28 pm
@Duncanz,
Yup, another great move instigated by that genius Barry Melrose. A source close to the Kings and Rogie back then told me that he was just outside of Kings locker room after a home loss to Calgary where an argument involving Coffey, Gretz and Melrose could be heard all the way down the hall. My friend told me that Melrose came out of the locker room, looked at Nick Beverly and said “It’s either me or one of them, one of us has to go”. Coffey was a Red Wing the next afternoon.
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Duncanz Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
@Michael J.,
Gretz and Coffey were compadres from the old days up north, huh?
Either way, awesome story (moreso if it didn’t involve the Kings).
More of these as we go, please!
wobsse6 Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 3:50 pm
@hip-check, I am guessing you meant the Toronto series home game they won, since they did not win the first game or any game at home during the finals…
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‘The Culmination – 92-93′ or ‘The High Water Mark – 1992-93′
It was the pinnacle of a particular era as well as a critical season on an individual level for many different Kings’ players.
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I’m thinking a title that describes the “groundswell of excitement throughout L.A.” that we felt as the Kings went through the playoffs. For me, it was encapsulated with Dave Taylor & Luc Robitaille being interviewed in the locker room and Luc yells out “We’re going to the damn Finals!”
Those words stay with me to today, and I thought of it last season.
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How about “First Taste”? As in our first taste of the Cup, that made us want it even more!
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JonRosen Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:57 pm
@Mike J, love that…”First Taste”…
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Neil Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 1:03 pm
@JonRosen, You could invite Stephen A Smith and the other knucklehead from “First Take” to discuss the Kings…
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Mike J. Reply:
March 11th, 2013 at 10:11 am
@JonRosen,
Not a problem.
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My favorite quote from that run was from Jacques Demers: “I had no idea Hrudey was that good.”
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I just remember Luc in the locker room after Game Seven vs Toronto saying, “We’re going to the freakin FINALS!” and the excitement in my living room was off the charts.
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The scores in the Kings’ first couple of rounds in those playoffs were so high it was almost like… Eastern Conference games nowadays.
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Jon,
You could do something like “The Beginning of the End” and chronicle how Barry Melrose decimated the roster by elimentating guys like Millen, Donnelly, Carson, Coffey, and Sydor in favor of legends such as Marc Potvin, Gary Suchuck (yes, one BIG goal), Rob Cowie, John Druce, and Chris Snell.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:47 pm
@Michael J.,
Agreed! Hey, didn’t he last, what, 11 games into a season in Tampa Bay I think before they figured out he was nuts and fired Melrose?
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Michael J. Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 12:56 pm
@Kingsfanone,
I remember being so geeked up when they hired Melrose. And I drank the Kool-Aid for about a year.
I will never figure out how he sat Jimmy Carson in favor of Marc Potvin in the conference finals and cup final. There was at least one game that Potvin did not skate a single shift… What an idiot.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 1:11 pm
@Michael J.,
I admit I too drank the Kool-Aid. Then I started to really see what he was doing. Yeah, sit Carson for Potvin. Great move!
Duncanz Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 1:35 pm
@Michael J., In Mellie’s defense, Carson only ever scored another 24 NHL goals in the NHL after that and was probably constantly carrying injuries.
Just maybe, Barry was one of the first to recognize that he was on the way down the other side.
I was 4 years old at the time and to be honest the only two things I remember vividly were the Mcsorley stick incident and my mom crying when we lost.
But its ok because 20 years later I was grown up and me and my mom got to share some special moments on this cup run….and I got to go to game 3 of the final thanks to Subby getting me a ticket.
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“The Time is……Not Yet”
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“The Time was…..20 years too early….”
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“20 Years ago..The Kings did exists”…..
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Hey Jon, how about “Chasing a Championship” with…..
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The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I’d something more to say
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JonRosen Reply:
March 9th, 2013 at 4:49 pm
@LAKMiles, and you run and you run to catch up to the sun but it’s sinking…
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I was at game 7 in Toronto. It was insanely loud and raucous. What I remember most was how when Gretzky scored his last goal it was like a library except for very few happy Kings fans.
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A Long time ago, when the wood sticks played…..
The old glory days of the Kings!
Go Kings Go!
To the net boys tonight, shoot and shoot and shoot somethings got, will go in, see you boys later, and remember have lots of fun!
Go Kings Go!
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A Long time ago, when the wood sticks played…..
The old glory days of the Kings!
Go Kings Go!
To the net boys tonight, shoot and shoot and shoot somethings got, will go in, see you boys later, and remember have lots of fun!
Go Kings Go!
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I always thought of it as the ‘Tour de Canada’, as all of our playoff opponents were from the Great White North. Unfortunately, we did not win the Tour.
Of the ones I’ve seen here, I think ‘First Taste’ is the best…and ties it tour our Cup winning team too!
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Yeah when Bob Miller said ” the Kings are now four wins away from the Stanley Cup!” The two seven series OT winners had to be the most intense, exciting Kings hockey ever.
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“A Bridge Too Far”
I remember Melrose once said that if they won the Cup that he’d be coach in LA “until they finish all those bridges in El Segundo.”
Remember all the freeway work going on with the 110 and 105 at the time? Anyway, that last series with the Canadiens was just one too many battles for the Kings, who had been stretched too far through 3 hard series and horrendous travel, while Roy and his team were in their own bed and Jammie’s every night.
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“bandanas and hair mullets”
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