fantastic: 1992-93 Los Angeles Kings Wayne Gretzky Jersey

The Toronto Maple Leafs concluded the 1992-93 NHL season with 99 points and entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Norris Division, drawing the second seeded Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs. The series not only went the full seven games, but the final and deciding game in Detroit went to overtime before Toronto was able to advance to face the St. Louis Blues, who shocked the top seeded Chicago Blackhawks.

The scrappy Blues put up quite a fight, pushing the Maple Leafs to another Game 7 before Toronto was able to advance to the Campbell Conference Finals.

Meanwhile in the Smythe division, the Los Angeles Kings eliminated the favored Calgary Flames in six games before upsetting the top seeded Vancouver Canucks in six to earn a date with Toronto in one of the more memorable playoff series in league history.

The Maple Leafs, led by Doug Gilmour's 127 points, rugged captain Wendel Clark and the goaltending duo of rookie Felix Potvin and Grant Fuhr, were looking to play tight defensive hockey in hopes to return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since winning the championship in 1967.

Meanwhile, the Kings, still looking to participate in their first finals in 1993, were led in scoring by Luc Robitaille's 63 goals and 125 points. Jari Kurri, Rob Blake and Wayne Gretzky also led the Kings attack. Gretzky had been limited to just 45 regular season games by a back injury and finished outside of the top three in league scoring for the first time in his career, but had fully recovered in time for the playoffs.

Kings coach Barry Melrose recalls the series "was one of the best series the NHL has had in the last 30 years. Both buildings were electric, and both cities were unbelievable."

Game 1 went to the Maple Leafs at home 4-1 but the tone for the series was set when the King's Marty McSorley destroyed Gilmour, who already had three points, with an elbow to the head and Clark went after McSorley in the kind of fight rarely seen in the playoffs.

The incident began a war of words in the media between Maple Leafs coach Pat Burns and the Kings Melrose after Burns accused Melrose of ordering the hit on Gilmour during the game, which got personal with Melrose commenting on Burns' weight and Burns comparing Melrose's mullet to that of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.

The Kings were able to gain a split on the road with a 3-2 win and back in Los Angeles, they held serve in Game 3 with a 4-2 win only to lose two days later by the same score, sending the series back to Canada tied at 2-2.

In a tense Game 5, Toronto was able to put Los Angeles on the brink with a 3-2 win with 40 seconds remaining in overtime when Glenn Anderson scored by knocking a puck out of the air with an amazing backhanded swing.

Game 6 began with the Kings dominating the first two periods and holding a 4-1 lead in the third period before Clark exploded with a hat trick to force the game into overtime with under a minute and a half remaining in regulation.

Famously, a high sticking incident by Gretzky on Gilmour went uncalled and Robitaille fed the puck to Gretzky to win the game just 1:41 into overtime to force a deciding seventh game back at the historic Maple Leaf Gardens on this date in 1993.

Game 7, which is available for viewing here, began with Grezky scoring shorthanded to put the Kings up 1-0 before assisting on Tomas Sandstrom's goal to give the Kings a 2-0 lead after one.

Clark and Anderson got the Maple Leafs even with goals in the first half of the second period before Gretzky struck again to beat Potvin with a slap shot to give the Kings a 3-2 lead heading in to the third.

Clark responded early in the third to even the game again at 3-3. Play continued up and down the ice until Mike Donnelly scored on a rebound of an Alexi Zhitnik shot to give the Kings the lead with less than four minutes remaining. Gretzky then completed his hat trick seconds later after circling the net and sending a backhander off the skate of a defender to give the Kings a two goal lead and little time remaining.

Before the Kings could breathe easy, Dave Ellett got one back for the Maple Leafs but when the dust settled, Toronto area native Gretzky had dismayed the home fans by setting a Stanley Cup record with his eight career playoff hat trick as the Kings prevailed 5-4 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history.

Today's featured jersey is a CCM 1992-93 Los Angeles Kings Wayne Gretzky jersey as worn during the Kings famous seven game series with the Maple Leafs, including when Gretzky scored the overtime winner in Game 6 wearing white at home in Los Angeles.

All players in 1992-93 wore the Stanley Cup Centennial patch on their jerseys that season, including the playoffs until the finals when the Kings and Canadiens switched to the Stanley Cup Finals patch.