33 Years Ago in Leafland; April 13, 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.
"It'll be nothing fancy. I don't think I'll be getting a lot of ice time. But when I do, I just hope I can play the way I did before I got hurt," explained Leaf defenceman Chris Kotsopoulos after missing the previous 41 games due to severely pulled abdominal muscles. He added, "You can be sure I won't be crossing centre ice too much. I think I can go every shift. I won't go much more than about 30 seconds at a time. But that'll be up to the coach. I'm happy just to get back in the lineup." Brophy said, "I suppose he'll see spot duty until he gets his game conditioning back, until the last minute of the game. But he'll play." 
In addition, rookie Vincent Damphousse will be back for game five. He said, "I took some pills for it and now I feel pretty good. It's my lower back and it affects my skating and all parts of my game. But I'm going to play." Ken Wregget and soon to be 36 year-old Borje Salming were given the day off for rest. "Wregget's seen enough pucks for a while," Brophy said. 
Game five, with Wregget in net of course, goes tomorrow in St. Louis.

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