two fewer points than the New Jersey Devils, the Leafs made the playoffs. They then swept the Hawks in three games before going down to the Blues in seven games. In 1987–88, they finished with the second-worst record in the league (and third-worst record in franchise history, at .325), and only a point ahead of the Minnesota North Stars for the worst record. However, the Norris Division was even weaker than it had been two years earlier; the Red Wings were the only team with a winning record. As a result, the Leafs and Stars were actually still in playoff contention on the last day of the season. The Leafs defeated the Red Wings in the final game of the regular season, while the Stars lost to the Flames. This handed the Leafs the final playoff spot from the division. The Leafs gave the Red Wings a surprisingly tough series in the first round, pushing them to six games. Many Leafs fans consider Ballard's tenure as owner to be the darkest era in team history; indeed, they only notched six winning seasons during Ballard's 18-plus years as majority owner, never finished above third in their division and only got out of the second round twice. The Leafs' subpar performance led some to call them the "Maple Laughs." The Leafs' poor record resulted in several high draft picks. Wendel Clark, the first overall pick in the 1985 draft went on to captain the team. Resurgence (1990–2004) Ballard died in 1990. A year later, supermarket tycoon Steve Stavro, a longtime friend of Ballard's, bought the team from Ballard's estate in partnership with the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. Unlike Ballard, Stavro hated the limelight and rarely interfered in the Leafs' hockey operations. After 1991–92, ex-Calgary Flames GM Cliff Fletcher took over the team. He made a series of trades and free agent acquisitions which turned the Leafs from an also-ran to a contender almost overnight. Unlike the league's other Canadian teams, the Leafs were not seriously impacted by the escalation of player salaries in the early 1990s. In fact, they actually thrived, as they were based in the league's fourth largest market. The new stars paid almost immediate dividends in 1992–93. Doug Gilmour, who had come over from the Flames the previous season, scored 32 goals and 95 assists to lead the team in scoring. Dave Andreychuk had come to the Leafs from