33 Years Ago in Leafland; April 14, 1987

Spring of 1987. The Maple Leafs went on an improbable playoff run. They got to within a game of meeting the mighty Edmonton Oilers in the Campbell Conference Finals. I was a 15 year-old hockey mad kid enjoying the fortunes of my favourite team. What better time than now to look back at this memorable time of my youth and Leafs history.
"I don't know where it came from. I was really surprised by it," said Leaf Mike Allison after beating Blues Greg Millen for the eventual winning goal in a 2-1 Leafs victory in Game Five of the Norris Division Semifinal. Allison had lugged the puck out from behind the net, faked out Millen and scored at 11:24 of the third. Millen called it a "major league move" from Allison who faked as if to go to the wide side of the net before coming back to his backhand to flip the puck into the open net. The goal was only Allison's fifth in 58 career playoff games. Brophy insisted he never had a doubt about Mike Allison, "Last year I watched New York in the playoffs, and he was the best forward the Rangers had. He's a very smart hockey player. He never makes mistakes."
As for the returning Chris Kotsopoulos, Coach Brophy assessed, "He played a tremendous game for us. He doesn't fool with the puck. He doesn't want to make a million dollar pass every time he gets the puck. He just gets it out." It wasn't all good news however, the Leafs lost Gary Leeman to a what appeared to be a knee strain in the first period.
The Leafs were lucky to come out of the first period down only 1-0 after being dominated by the Blues, thanks to superb play by Ken Wregget. Despite outshooting St. Louis 18-11 in the second, the score remained 1-0 until Mark Osborne tied it on a fluke goal 13 seconds into the third. Osborne flipped the puck at the net from the blueline and it floated over Millen's shoulder, which set the stage for Allison's winner.
Brophy voiced his thoughts of the Blues tactics, "They're complaining about high-sticking. But we can't help it if each time we touch them they're going to roll around on the ice like a turtle." He continued on the "turtling" antics of one Blues defenceman in particular, "Charlie Bourgeois is a disgrace to the Maritimes the way he's rolling around on the ice, he was turtling on Steve Thomas."
The series resumes in two days back at Maple Leaf Gardens with the Leafs holding a 3 games to 2 lead.

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