33 Years Ago in Leafland; April 21, 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.
"First, you've got to look at how well the Leafs played, they made us look bad. They played the perfect road game. They stayed on top of us," stated Red Wings coach Jacques Demers after Toronto took Game 1 of the Norris Final by a score of 4-2 at Joe Louis Arena. Demers continued, "Their six defencemen were phenomenal. Their defence did the same thing we did against Chicago a week ago."
Wings goalie Greg Stefan wasn't as sharp as he was the previous series, allowing four goals on 17 shots before getting the hook near the halfway point of the game. On Stefan, Demers commented, "He wasn't sharp as he has been, but we've got to remember what he did for us against Chicago."
Rick Vaive said after the game, "I think this was a very big win for us. Now the season comes into play a bit. They've got to start wondering now what they have to do to beat us. Obviously the layoff hurt them in the first game. That's something I expected. But as I said before the series that after this it won't matter. That's why it was important for us to win the first one."
Toronto opened the scoring on a long shot by Dan Daoust from just over centre ice. "He turned his pad to deflect it into the corner and I think he just misjudged it," stated Daoust. After Mel Bridgman tied it, Wregget allowed his own long goal on a shot from centre by Mike O'Connell before the first period ended. Wregget said, "The guy looked like he was going to dump the puck into the corner. But he rolled his wrist and brought it back and put the shot on goal. I had started out of the net to block the puck behind the net. By the time I realized what he was doing, I was out of position and couldn't get back." The Detroit lead didn't last long as Rick Vaive scored on a breakaway 1:25 into the second,  then Wendel Clark got the eventual winner a few minutes later on a rebound of a Vaive shot.
Demers concluded his assessment, "It was a typical, hard-nosed game. There was no fighting; nothing stupid. I hope that sets the tone for the series."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ron Hextall and the stolen Conn Smythe Trophy

Image
Ron Hextall did not deserve the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1987....there, I said it. I recently caught game seven of the '87 finals on ESPN Classic, where the Oilers beat the Flyers 3-1. Hextall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy to the disdain and boos of the Northlands Coliseum. Hextall was (and remains) the fourth player to win the trophy in a losing cause. Even as a teenager following these playoffs as they happened, I thought this was an injustice. Upon further inspection, I believe he only won because he was a rookie, and was the "sexy" pick as opposed to the proper pick. When looking at his numbers, it's hard to figure why he won. Hextall finished with 15 wins, 11 losses and a GAA of 2.77. Oilers, Grant Fuhr went 14 and 5 with an average of 2.46. I realize that stats cannot tell the whole story, but even if we dig further the award doesn't seem justified. His .908 Save Pct was the same as Fuhr's and tied for third behind Ken Wregget and Kelly Hrudey. Also,...
Read more

WHA Ottawa Civics, The Two Week Franchise

Image
Tom Earl, Daryl Maggs, Mark Lomenda, Gary MacGregor, Garry Swain "Please let the fans make up their own minds," Henry Feller told a press gathering. "Let them decide if they want pro hockey here. We have to average 7,000 or 8,000 in the remaining 19 home games for a break-even point." Feller was a director of the Founders Club who had interest in buying the WHA's Denver Spurs club. Ivan Mullinex, owner of the Spurs had brought his team to Ottawa in an attempt to drum up interest and save his investment. The date was January 2, 1976 and Mullinex was in debt to a Denver bank to the tune of $1 million dollars. This same day, the newly christened Civics lost their first game under the new moniker by a score of 2-1 at Cincinnati. Star of the team, Ralph Backstrom said after the game, "Our first official notice of the move hit us when we entered the Cincinnati rink and the names on the big scoreboard read: Stingers and Civics. Until that moment we were un...
Read more

Team Canada 1972, What Might have Been

Image
Guy Lafleur, if he had played in the 72 Summit Series "No way. Can you imagine what our fans would say if we allowed Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito to play for Canada in that series and either...suffered an injury that might prevent them from playing with us for a year or more?" This was the concern of Weston Adams Jr, president of the Boston Bruins as quoted on April 20, 1972. After being speculated and discussed since February 1972 at the Olympics in Sapporo Japan, the series was set to go. Early on however, controversy stirred as to who exactly would be representing Canada. Bruins GM, Milt Schmidt agreed with his boss saying, "My only interest would be to see the Russians play the Bruins for the world championship...or whatever team wins the Stanley Cup." In the Vancouver Sun a few days later, the legendary Jim Coleman responds to the American naysayers suggesting that Team Canada should be made up strictly of players from Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal ...
Read more