A King's Ransom

Today in 1988 the sports world was rocked by the trade of "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers (who he led to 4 Stanley Cup wins in 5 tries) to the Los Angeles Kings.   He would take or drag the Kings to the top of the league and the 1993 Stanley Cup Final but Canada's national hero was going to try and bring hockey to the sunshine state.

The ESPN 30 for 30 documentary "A King's Ransom" takes an in depth look at this momentous day in hockey history.

1951 Stanley Cup Finals

Today in 1951 the Toronto Maples Leafs put the final touches on a 4 games to 1 Stanley Cup Finals victory over the Montreal Canadiens.  All 5 games of the series went to overtime with the game 4 winner being scored by Toronto defenseman Bill Barilko, who tragically would die the following summer in a plane crash.

All but one of the 5 games was a 3-2 score, with game 3 the exception, a Toronto 2-1 win.   This was the 6 Stanley Cup win for the Maple Leafs since 1942.  It would be the last win for the Leafs until 1962, when they would win 3 years in a row.

The leading scorers in the 1951 playoffs were Maurice Richard of Montreal and Max Bentley of Toronto who both had 13 points.