33 Years Ago in Leafland; April 16, 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.

"Tell the guy in Detroit with the moustache (Wings coach Jacques Demers) that this is a miracle," quipped John Brophy to the media after his Leafs defeated the Blues 4-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens to win the Norris Semi-final 4 games to 2. Brophy's statement was referring to a quote from Demers three weeks ago  that he later denied, that it would take a miracle for the Leafs to make the playoffs.
Brad Smith, a Windsor, Ontario native known as Motor City Smitty scored a breakaway goal less than three minutes into the game. Smith said, "It's the only move I have. I go to my backhand, then pull it to my forehand. Our goalies are used to it. They stop me every time in practice." On this day, it worked on Greg Millen.
There was over two scoreless periods after Smith's goal before Bill Root scored on a point shot early in the third, followed two minutes later by Russ Courtnall banging in his own rebound. Peter Ihnacak finished the scoring with two minutes to play. Ken Wregget made 19 saves for his first shutout of the season, but deflected the praise to his defencemen, "Blues couldn't get the puck into our zone. When they did, the defence cleared the puck for me. It was nice not to have two or three shots in a row."
Doug Gilmour was so upset by the checking of Dan Daoust that he broke his stick over the Leafs centreman in the final minute. "Doug just got frustrated and lost his composure. I've been in his shoes. I know how he felt. In my first year with Nova Scotia the other team put a checker on me. I couldn't stand it. I got frustrated and started doing stupid things." Daoust expects to perform the same role against the Red Wings and centre Steve Yzerman. He added, "I don't know if the Wings will be faster than St. Louis. I think there will be a lot of clutching and grabbing. One thing for sure: There won't be any shootouts."



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