Wendel Clark knows the Maple Leafs left everything on the ice 27 years ago later this month when Toronto famously fell to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 7 of the 1993 conference finals. One variable, though, was completely uncontrollable.
"We got Gretzky'd that night," Clark said in this week's episode of Puck Pursuit, theScore's hockey podcast, referring to the legend's memorable four-point performance in a 5-4 Kings road victory.
Clark scored twice - he was always clutch in Game 7s - but it wasn't enough.
"We played as hard as we could, as well as we could," Clark said. "We maybe didn't get a bounce here or there the odd time, but that's sports. That's why you play the game. As long as you leave it all on the ice and did what you could, there is no second-guessing anything."
If the Leafs had defeated the Kings to advance to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final, the spotlight would have surely landed on superstar center Doug Gilmour. The man nicknamed "Killer" was in his prime. A tenacious workhorse with plenty of skill, Gilmour would have given the Montreal Canadiens, the eventual Cup champions, a fit every game.
"Really, from 1992 to 1994, I don't know if there was a better player in the NHL than Dougie," Clark said. "For what he did for our team and how he played in every single situation there was - offensively, defensively, penalty kill, and power play. … He could play at the (high) skill level, or he could play in the trenches as a little guy. And with his personality, we just jumped on the bandwagon when he was doing his thing."
Clark, 53, who retired from the NHL in 2000 with 564 points in 793 games, is self-isolating with his family. Regarding COVID-19, the former Leafs captain shared a message for hockey fans.
"The smarter we are now, the better off we'll be down the road," he said. "Let's not cut corners now."
To listen to Clark discuss his storied career, how the current Leafs squad can tap into toughness without acquiring enforcers, and much more, click below to hear the entire Puck Pursuit episode.
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