The year was 1993.
Bill Clinton was in his first year in the White House, Jerry Seinfeld was complaining about wearing a pirate shirt and Whitney Houston dominated the charts with "I Will Always Love You."
The Phoenix Coyotes were called the Jets (and played their games in Winnipeg), Wayne Gretzky was in the Silver and Black and the Kings were the talk of the town in advancing to the Campbell Conference finals after dispatching of both Calgary and Vancouver, each in six games.
That was the last time the Kings were four wins away from playing for Lord Stanley's Cup.
To celebrate this current Kings run — some 19 years in the making — FOX Sports West will re-air Games 6 and 7 of the 1993 conference finals — a pair of 5-4 Kings wins over Toronto. Game 6 will be shown Thursday at 7 p.m., immediately followed by Game 7 at 9:30 p.m.
"It was such a classic series, that [LA-TOR] series, even more than the finals," Kings Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Miller said in an interview on FOX Sports West. "Because both captains, (Wendel) Clark and Gretzky led their teams, scored hat tricks and everything else.
"When you are that close to the finals, it is almost more nerve wracking than the finals themselves."
The Kings and Maple Leafs split the first four games, then Glen Anderson’s goal with 39.4 seconds remaining in overtime of Game 5 gave the Maple Leafs to a 3-2 heading back to Toronto.
Gretzky prolonged the series with an overtime winner in a controversial Game 6, setting up what The Great One has called his best NHL game. In Game 7 on May 29, Gretzky sent the Kings to their first and only Stanley Cup Finals with a hat trick, with Miller’s call of “the Kings are four wins away from the Stanley Cup!” capturing the moment for Kings fans.
The dates for this season’s conference championship series have yet to be determined. But tune in to FOX Sports West on Thursday at 7 p.m. for Game 6 followed by Game 7 at 9:30 p.m. and relive the magic of The Great One, Lucky Luc, Hollywood Hrudey and Barry Melrose (and, of course, The Mullet).
The Kings got past Toronto in 1993 . . . how will they fare vs. Phoenix in 2012?
