TRH GAMEDAY 30 – MONTREAL CANADIENS: 21 Years Later … Sacré abloo bloo bloo
With the LA Kings two Stanley Cup Championship wins in the past three years, longtime fans have finally been able to let go of the pain and frustration experienced during the 1993 Final.
If you weren’t around back then, allow me to give you a quick rundown.
The Kings won an extraordinary seven game series against the Toronto Maple Leafs to capture their first ever Western Conference Championship (RIP Campbell Conference Champions banner that used to be taped to the wall at Staples Center before being homogenized) and advanced to face-off against the Montreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup.
The Kings took Game 1 on the road and were well on their way to winning Game 2 when Marty McSo–you know what? I’m still not ready to talk about it.
The Canadiens won.
Whatever.
But now over 21 years later, who really got the last laugh?
Let’s see how the major players from that epic Cup showdown are faring today.
Vincent Damphousse vs. Wayne Gretzky
Damphousse, the Canadiens leading scorer during the 1993 regular season and playoffs, is now working as an analyst for the French Canadian TV station RDS. He was even given this fancy intro video. Meanwhile, Damphousse’s ex-wife is facing trial for stealing a briefcase from him.
Meanwhile, Gretzky continues to rule the universe as the best hockey player ever. He also very well may have threatened his daughter’s fiancee after it was revealed he is dealing with cocaine addiction.
ADVANTAGE: GRETZKY
Kirk Muller vs. Luc Robitaille
Muller scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal (Unfortunately, we were unable to track down the “Hrudey You Suck” guy to see how his life has changed in the past 21 years for this post). After Muller’s career wrapped up, he eventually became the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes where his team never qualified for the playoffs. To make matters worse, he is now an assistant coach for the St Louis Blues.
Robitaille was named the Kings President of Business Operations in 2007. Since then, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, won two Stanley Cups, and will have a statue of his likeness revealed outside of Staples Center in the near future.
ADVANTAGE: ROBITAILLE
Eric Desjardins vs. Rob Blake
Desjardins holds the honor of being the only defenseman to score a hat trick in the Stanley Cup Final. Nowadays, the former NHL defenseman is better known for waiting around to be inducted into the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame along with Eric Lindros and John Leclair. The trio helped lead the Flyers to a Cup Final appearance in which they were promptly swept. And they now look like this:
After arguably the biggest heel turns in Kings history, Blake has somehow found a way to come home again to Los Angeles. No, he’s no longer doing Indian casino spots at a safe distance from merciless crowds, nor is he playing a bit part in a terrible Mike Myers movie. Instead, the now Hall of Fame inducted blue liner is general manager Dean Lombardi’s right hand man.
Rob Blake [Assist. GM] has his own cup for the drive thru. (Simcoe, ON) #StanleyCup @HockeyHallFame @NHL @LAKingsPR pic.twitter.com/bJotCAWpag
— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) July 23, 2014
ADVANTAGE: BLAKE
Patrick Roy vs. Kelly Hrudey
Roy had one of the most amazing careers that anyone could ever possibly dream of. Once he left the league, however, Roy has made headlines for watching his son nearly kill another kid on the ice, another son freaking out after getting booted from a game, and doing this once he gained a coaching job at the pro level:
Meanwhile, Hrudey has made a name for himself as a analyst on CBC, notably for not being Glenn Healy. In his spare time, the former Kings netminder also tweets out pictures like this:
Isn't there some kind of saying about bad things happening in threes. So here's the last pic from the beach Hahaha pic.twitter.com/PQZkijW7E4
— Kelly Hrudey (@KellyHrudey) July 13, 2014
ADVANTAGE: HRUDEY
So there you go, Kings fans!
It’s like going to your high school reunion and making fun of all the people who you knew would end up being losers anyway.
*nervous laughter*
Who cares about some stupid Stanley Cup Final from over two decades ago?
*still sobbing*
Damn you, Jacques Demers! Damn you to hell!
TRH TENDER SWIPE TO VICTORY MATCHUP™
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