Matt Zemek
 |  UCLA Wire

The year 1993 wasn’t the greatest year in Los Angeles or UCLA football history, but it was a very good one. UCLA made the Rose Bowl that season, something we recently noted:

“Terry Donahue made several Rose Bowls at UCLA, but entering the 1993 season, he hadn’t reached the Granddaddy since the 1985 season. UCLA still delivered very strong seasons in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but USC and Washington had phenomenal teams which denied the Bruins another run for the Roses. In 1993, however, both the Trojans and Huskies fell off the pace. The Bruins took advantage, going to the 1994 Rose Bowl game against Wisconsin.”

Donahue and UCLA showed they still had their fastball in 1993. That same year, something else happened in Los Angeles sports which is being discussed this week, as the Dodgers face the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2025 World Series.

Los Angeles versus Toronto, Part 1

The 1993 Campbell Conference Final (as it was known then, before changing to the Western Conference years later) was contested by the Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs. This was a classic seven-game series in which the Kings won in overtime at home in Game 6 before going to Toronto to take Game 7. Dodgers-Blue Jays is not the first time LA and Toronto have met in a championship series.

Los Angeles versus Toronto, Part 2

This Dodgers-Blue Jays World Series is the first time LA and Toronto teams have met for a “Big Four” sports championship. The 1993 Kings-Leafs series was a conference final, not the Stanley Cup Final.

Los Angeles versus Canada, Part 1

The Dodgers are not playing their first-ever MLB postseason series in Canada. That was the 1981 National League Championship Series, which the Dodgers won in Montreal against the Expos on Rick Monday’s tiebreaking ninth-inning homer in a winner-take-all Game 5.

Los Angeles versus Canada, Part 2

This is not the first time Los Angeles has faced a Canadian team for a Big Four sports title. That was in 1993. The Kings, fresh off beating Toronto, reached the Stanley Cup Final and faced the Montreal Canadiens, losing in five games.

1993 Kings versus Canada

The 1993 Stanley Cup Final, won by Montreal, remains the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup. The Edmonton Oilers have come close in each of the last two seasons, including 2025, but have not gotten over the hump.

1993 in Toronto

The year 1993, significant in both Los Angeles and Canada, is also important for Toronto. That’s the last time the Blue Jays reached the World Series before this year.

The stage is set

Either Los Angeles beats Toronto again, as it did in 1993, or the Blue Jays win the World Series for the first time since 1993. History will be made, one way or the other.