Doug Gilmour reveals who Leafs fans should actually blame for Gretzky’s missed high stick in 1993

Doug Gilmour revealed who he blames for the infamous missed high-sticking call on Wayne Gretzky that ultimately led to him scoring Game 6 OT winner back in ’93.

Retired NHL official Kerry Fraser has taken heat from Maple Leafs fans for decades over the 1993 ‘high-stick gate’ that ultimately led to the Leafs losing Game 6 and Game 7 to the LA Kings and missing the opportunity to face the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals. Fraser has iterated time and time again that he did not see the play and was therefore unable to call it, but that has not stopped fans from blaming him.

On a recent episode of ‘Missin’ Curfew’, Doug Gilmour himself revealed that Fraser isn’t the only one to blame for the franchise-altering call.

“It was just off the draw and he came up underneath. Kerry Fraser said it was a follow-through, but it wasn’t. He came up underneath and hit me in the chin. You can’t just blame Kerry on this. There’s one referee out there, two linesmen. If the linesmen call it, it’s a five-minute [penalty], game misconduct. Well, that would have been a riot in LA… I kind of blame the linesmen, too. Just say ‘Kerry, say you saw it, give him a two-minute penalty and they’re going to play four-on-four.'”

As Fraser explained, he was not as close to the play as the linesmen and in turn, the play looked different from his perspective. Having the two sides play four-on-four would have led to the overtime beginning with Gretzky in the box and would have prevented him and the Kings from scoring on the man advantage less than 2 minutes into the extra frame.

The missed call seemingly changed the entire outcome of the series and ultimately cost the Leafs the chance to end their nearly 30-year Stanley Cup drought.