May 29, 1993: The Great One's greatest

TORONTO - By the spring of 1993, Wayne Gretzky had been a member of the Los Angeles Kings for five full seasons, so most hockey fans were probably over the shock of seeing him wearing the Kings' black and silver instead of the Oilers' royal blue and orange. Even still, seeing the Oilers miss the playoffs in 1993 had to have been a shock, one that was compounded by the Kings' improbable run to the Stanley Cup finals.

The Kings' opponents in the Conference finals were the Toronto Maple Leafs, who Gretzky had never played in the playoffs in his years in Edmonton. The series was brutal, with hard hits and fights all series long. After Game 1, the Kings' Marty McSorley had 97 threatening messages on his hotel phone after a vicious hit on the Maple Leafs' Doug Gilmour. The Maple Leafs emerged from the first five games with a 3-games-to-2 series lead.

Gretzky turned the series around in Game 6, but not in the way people would have expected. In overtime of Game 6, Gretzky high-sticked Gilmour in the face, cutting it open, an infraction that should have led to at least a five-minute penalty if not a game-misconduct. No penalty was called, and Gretzky scored the game-winner moments later.

That set the stage for Game 7 on May 29 in Toronto. Before the game, a Toronto newspaper columnist had written that Gretzky looked like he was playing the series with a piano on his back. That might have been all he needed to hear. Gretzky scored in all three periods, capping his hat trick by scoring after an attempted pass deflected off a defender's skate, to lead the Kings to their first Stanley Cup final.

Gretzky had many memorable games in his career, including three different instances when he had 7 assists in a game and 10 playoff games where he had a hat trick. But he said his performance in Game 7 against the Maple Leafs was the best game he played in his career.

Against Montreal in the finals, the beating the Kings took against Toronto might have cost them. After winning the first game, Los Angeles, lost the next three, all in overtime, before dropping the series in five game. It was the last time Gretzky would play in the Stanley Cup finals.

April 23, 1964: It's just a flesh wound

DETROIT - Bobby Baun's story began when he collapsed without contact after a faceoff in the third period of game 6 of the 1964 Stanley Cup finals. It's never a good sign when an athlete goes down with an injury that had no visible cause; it generally means something pretty serious has happened. That appeared to be the case this time, as well, when Baun was carried off the ice on a stretcher, favoring his leg.

So the Toronto Maple Leafs, in a must-win game on the road, were without their best defender, a man who was one of the hardest hitters in the league. They wouldn't miss his offense, as he only scored four goals that season and 37 for his career, but they'd miss his defense.

Just over a minute into overtime, after getting control of the puck after a face off, the Red Wings tried to clear the zone when a Maple Leaf player intercepted the clearing attempt at the blue line and shot it in one motion. The puck went in, and the Maple Leafs had a 4-3 victory. Looking to see who had scored the goal, both teams were surprised to see Baun jumping up and down. Even the announcers didn't realize he was back on the ice. But he had returned and forced a game 7.

The Maple Leafs won game 7 to win their fourth Stanley Cup in five years. After the game, x-rays showed that Baun had broken his ankle in game 6, making his return to the ice that much more remarkable.

Baun had a 17-year career in the NHL, continuing his strong defensive play throughout his career. After his career, he was remembered for beginning a fight for a higher pension for NHL players, a fight that eventually led to the arrest and conviction of Players Association rep Alan Eagleson for racketeering, fraud, and embezzlement. But he's largely remembered for one of his three career playoff goals, the one he scored on a broken ankle.