1992–93 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1992–93 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 76th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team qualified for the playoffs after a two year absence. == Off-season == Head coach Tom Watt was fired on May 4. Watt remained with the organization as director of player development. On May 29, Montreal Canadiens head coach Pat Burns quit that role in order to sign a four-year contract to become Toronto's new head coach. == Regular season == Grant Fuhr was traded by the Maple Leafs (with conditional pick in 1995 draft) to Buffalo Sabres for LW Dave Andreychuk, G Daren Puppa and first-round draft pick in the 1993 draft (D Kenny Jonsson) on February 2, 1993. The 1992–93 season was a triumph for the Maple Leafs. It saw them set franchise records in wins (44) and points (99). Twenty-one-year-old goaltender Felix Potvin played his first full season with the team and was solid with a 25–15–7 record, a 2.50 goals against average (GAA), two shutouts and a .910 save percentage. In a season that saw 20 of 24 teams average more than three goals scored per game, the Maple Leafs goaltending was one of the best in the NHL, allowing only 241 goals in 84 games (only the Chicago Blackhawks allowed fewer goals than Toronto). The Maple Leafs also had a strong defence corps, anchored by Dave Ellett, Todd Gill, Sylvain Lefebvre, Jamie Macoun, Dmitri Mironov and Bob Rouse. Out of all 24 teams, the Maple Leafs allowed the fewest power-play goals in the regular season (69). Newcomers Dave Andreychuk and Daren Puppa also played very well. In just 31 games with the Leafs, Andreychuk scored 25 goals and had 13 assists for 38 points. Puppa won six out of eight games, had a 2.25 GAA, two shutouts and a .922 save percentage. Rookie Nikolai Borschevsky led the team in goals with 34 and would score a very important goal in the first round of the playoffs against the Detroit Red Wings; Borschevsky deflected Bob Rouse's shot 2:35 into the first overtime period of game seven at Joe Louis Arena to give the Leafs a 4–3 win and a four-games-to-three series win. === Doug Gilmour === Doug Gilmour had a career year in 1992–93. He had a franchise-record 127 points during the 1992–93 regular season and ranked eighth in NHL scoring. In the playoffs, he played a key role as the Leafs took out the powerhouse Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues, both in seven games. Gilmour finished the playoffs with 35 points, behind only Wayne Gretzky. Gilmour was the runner-up for the Hart Memorial Trophy as regular season MVP and won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as best defensive forward, the first major NHL award that a Leaf player had won since 1967. === Off-ice issues === Off the ice, the often-bitter debate surrounding beer sales at Maple Leaf Gardens reached a climax. By 1992, beer had been sold for over a decade at major outdoor venues such as Exhibition Stadium and the SkyDome, but this policy did not extend to Maple Leaf Gardens, which by 1992 was one of only two major professional sports venues in North America (the other being the Delta Center in Salt Lake City) where all alcohol sales were banned. After the expansion Ottawa Senators were able to secure a liquor licence for the Ottawa Civic Centre, Maple Leafs management lobbied heavily to be permitted the same, promising strict protocols would be enforced. Despite fierce opposition from some municipal politicians such as Councillor Kay Gardner, Toronto City Council ultimately voted in favour. Following provincial approval, the first beer was sold at Maple Leaf Gardens on January 30, 1993 (10½ years to the day after the first beer had been sold at Exhibition Stadium). === Season standings === Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals againstNote: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold. == Playoffs == === Norris Division Semifinals: Detroit vs. Toronto === In a revival of the heated Original Six rivalry, Nikolai Borschevsky's game seven overtime goal gave Toronto the series. This was also Toronto's first playoff win over Detroit since the Leafs beat the Wings in the full seven games back in the 1964 Stanley Cup Final. === Norris Division Finals: Toronto vs. St. Louis === The Maple Leafs defeated the Blues in seven games to win the Norris Division playoffs, despite Blues' goaltender Curtis Joseph's efforts. The Blues were heavily outshot throughout the series including more than 60 shots in game one alone. Game seven was the first to be played at Maple Leaf Gardens since the 1964 Cup Final when Andy Bathgate scored the cup clinching goal. === Conference Finals: Toronto vs. Los Angeles === This intense seven-game series has been etched in the memory of hockey fans. The Toronto Maple Leafs brought a highly competitive team for the first time in years and were hoping to break their 26-year Stanley Cup drought; they had not even been to the Cup Final since their last Cup win in 1967. The Los Angeles Kings, led by captain Wayne Gretzky, also had high ambitions. During game one (a dominating victory for the Leafs) 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 (McSorley later remarked in interviews that he received dozens of death threat messages on his hotel phone from angry fans). Toronto would take a 3–2 series lead after five games. Game six went back west to the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles; it too was not without controversy and was also decided on an overtime goal. During the 1992–93 season, there was a league-wide crackdown on High-Sticking infractions, whether they were accidental or not. In game six, Gilmour was part of controversy once again. With the game tied at 4 in overtime, Wayne Gretzky clipped him in the face with the blade of his stick, drawing blood. Everyone 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. He would score three goals in the deciding game to give Los Angeles a berth in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history and also the first time the Kings won a playoff series against an Original Six team. Gretzky has been quoted as saying that his performance in game seven was the best NHL game of his career. == Schedule and results == === Regular season === === Playoffs === == Player statistics == === Regular season === Scoring Goaltending === Playoffs === Scoring Goaltending == Awards and records == Pat Burns, Jack Adams Award. Doug Gilmour, Selke Trophy. Doug Gilmour, Molson Cup (most game star selections for Toronto Maple Leafs). Doug Gilmour, franchise record, most points in one season, 127 points. Doug Gilmour, franchise record, most points by a centre in one season, 127 points. Doug Gilmour, franchise record, most assists in one season, 95 assists. Doug Gilmour, most assists in one game (6), Toronto club record. == Transactions == The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1992-93 season. === Trades === === Waivers === === Expansion draft === === Free agents === == Draft picks == Toronto's draft picks at the 1992 NHL entry draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. == Farm teams == The Maple Leafs' farm team was the St. John's Maple Leafs in St. John's, Newfoundland. == References == === Notes === === Bibliography === National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, senior managing editor: Ralph Dinger, published in Canada by Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5. == External links == Maple Leafs on Hockey Database