#1. What if the Wayne Gretzky high stick was called in 1993?
The biggest what-if in Leafs memory. The greatest player to ever live got the greatest non-call in NHL history.
As everyone knows, Gretzky high-sticked Doug Gilmore in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals but Kerry Fraser never made the call. Not only did he never make the call, but it was in overtime and Gretzky scored moments later to win the game and force a Game 7.
So what if Fraser made the call?
If Fraser makes the call, the Leafs go on a five-minute power-play and more likely than not, they score and win the series. Although the Leafs had yet to score a power-play goal that night, they were bound to get one with a five-minute advantage.
If the Leafs scored on that power-play and went onto the Stanley Cup Finals, they would have faced the Montreal Canadiens in one of the most highly touted finals in NHL history.
The 1992-93 Leafs roster was one of the team’s best of all-time, but they were narrowly winning each series. They won the first and second round in seven games, so they were never dominating teams, unlike Montreal.
The Canadiens roster was stacked, but more importantly had a player by the name of Patrick Roy. There was no team that was going to beat Roy, so if the Leafs got that call and went to the Finals, they weren’t going to defeat the Canadiens.
It would have taken an absolute miracle to do it, so although fans can be upset for decades about this call, the heartbreak for Leaf fans would have been even worse as they would have saw the team losing to their rival in the Stanley Cup finals.
Sorry, Leaf fans, it’s true.