stick game in the man who knew too little

'I know (Canadiens center) Guy Carbonneau had a great eye for eyeballing a stick, leaning over on a faceoff. A few people noticed that McSorley had a pretty open blade, to say the least. 'Here's what I remember: I'd be on our bench during warm-up - both teams' benches were on the same side in the Montreal Forum - and I'd look at the other team to see who was skating well or coming back from injury, taking notes for Jacques. 'I don't recall anybody measuring sticks, and I'm not trying to cover anyone's rear end almost 25 years later. 'I can guarantee you the Kings' rack wasn't in our room,' said Lefebvre, who some to this day swear that he had secretly scoped the Kings sticks. Gaetan Lefebvre, then the Canadiens' athletic therapist, said Friday from Montreal that this is simply not true. McSorley has said that Montreal's Gary Leeman has related how the Los Angeles stick rack was even in the Canadiens' dressing room.

'Apparently, the cop was told to leave his post for a few minutes between periods while the Habs examined the Kings sticks so they'd know who was using an illegal one.' 'It's now been well-documented that Luc Robitaille, a member of the Kings at the time, was contacted a year later by a Montreal policeman who said his conscience was bothering him over the incident,' Gallagher wrote. Desjardins completed his hat trick in overtime, scoring the winner 51 seconds into OT.įive years ago, with the Kings on their way to winning the 2012 Stanley Cup, McSorley revisited the illegal stick incident yet again, telling Vancouver Province sportswriter Tony Gallagher that while he full well knew he was using an illegal blade, the full story is seldom told. With goaltender Patrick Roy on the bench for a sixth attacker, Canadiens defenseman Eric Desjardins scored the tying goal 32 seconds into the ensuing 6-on-4 power play. Referee Kerry Fraser used the gauge provided in the penalty box to size up the stick, penalizing McSorley when the blade was deemed to have too sharp a curve. The victory tied the best-of-7 series 1-1, setting the stage for the Canadiens to win the next two games in Los Angeles and Game 5 back at the Forum to capture the 24th and most recent championship in franchise history.Īcting on a hunch or inside information, depending on whom you listen to, Canadiens coach Jacques Demers called for a measurement of McSorley's blade. With McSorley in the penalty box, Montreal scored a power-play goal to tie the game 2-2 and send it into overtime the ice was still wet when Montreal won in OT. The Montreal Canadiens sniffed out McSorley's illegal stick with 1:45 left in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 3, 1993. Video: Memories: McSorley's illegal stick leads to a loss

Stick game in the man who knew too little