33 Years Ago in Leafland; May 4, 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.
"We should have had a better team in Newmarket to get us through. You can't win with American Leaguers. Mind you they tried hard enough, but there were no Tom Ferguses among them," stated Leafs owner Harold Ballard, referring to the lack of depth Toronto had in the AHL when injuries hit. Ballard continued griping, "Who is this 27 (Miroslav Ihnacak) anyway? You can't expect him to step in. We spent so much money to go over and get him (from Czechoslovakia), but he's just stealing money." For starters, Ballard decided to lessen the load on Leafs GM Gerry McNamara and appointed his assistant , Gord Stellick as GM of Newmarket, "Whatever Gordie does, he does perfectly, and he might develop into a National Hockey League general manager some day, " Ballard added.
As for Brophy, and giving him a contract extension, Ballard said, "He can have anything he wants. He's one of the best coaches in the hockey field and a credit to the game." He went on, "We've gone 20 years without the Stanley Cup and I'm not going to put up with it anymore." In fact, the very next day (May 5), Ballard rewarded Brophy with a three-year contract, referring to him as "The most important man on my hockey team". Although not disclosed, it is thought that Brophy is now making over $100,000 per year. Brophy himself said, "It was a substantial raise. I'm very happy. It gives me some security but more importantly, having a three year contract allows a coach time to do things he wants to do to improve the team. The bottom line, though, is that we have to win."
Ballard added, "The guy eats, drinks and sleeps hockey. Hockey is his life. He comes from Nova Scotia and I don't even think he can fish. It's all hockey with him." Brophy concluded by saying, "My first year was a lot of fun. Naturally I'm disappointed with the way it ended but we'll get better."

The following season, 1987/88, the Leafs were hovering around the .500 mark at 13-15-2 after 30 games. They would win only 8 more times the rest of the season which saw them tumble by 18 points in the standings to a 21-49-10 record. Amazingly, they still made the playoffs thanks to Minnesota having one less point. Toronto faced Detroit once again, this time in the first round. Detroit had improved to 1st in the division with 92 points, yet the Leafs somehow took Game 1 by a score of 6-2.  The Wings bounced back to win the series in six games, including victories of 6-2 and 8-0.
In 1988/89 Toronto again stormed out of the gates with a record of 8-3-1. They then proceeded to go 3-17-1 and Brophy was fired a week before Christmas. Harold Ballard was nearing death, and would pass away a few months later. Brophy didn't even make it halfway through his three-year contract. George Armstrong took over from Brophy and had slightly more success, but the team missed the playoffs. Doug Carpenter was head coach to start 1989/90.
Brophy returned to his roots of minor league hockey. He coached in the ECHL for the next 13 seasons, winning three championships. He passed away in 2016 at age 83.

I'm still waiting for the Leafs to win a Stanley Cup, almost as anxiously as my 15-year old self was back in the Spring of 1987.







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