The NHL trade deadline used to be a week or two ahead of the end of the season. In 1995, it was on April 6th (pushed back due to the half-season long lockout) and on that day a name that was cemented into Toronto Maple Leafs history left the team after only 150 games.
On April 6th, 1995 the Toronto Maple Leafs traded Nikolai Borschevsky to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a 1996 6th round pick.
Drafted in the 4th round in 1992, Borschevsky left Spartak Moskva and joined the Leafs at the start of the 92-93 season. The right winger would score 74 games in 78 games for an amazing Maple Leafs debut. He tied the Maple Leafs record for most goals in a rookie season with 34 (later broken by Auston Matthews), tied the assists record with 40 (later broken by Mitch Marner), and still holds the Maple Leafs rookie record for points with 74 and rookie power play goals with 12.
In the 1993 playoffs, Borschevsky scored the game winning goal in game seven of the Maple Leafs opening round series versus the Detroit Red Wings. The moment that made him a name to remember among the Leafs hardcore happened minutes later, in his post-game interview.
This interview is best described and reviewed by Down Goes Brown, so please, read it there.
The next season would be cut in half by injuries, and he scored 35 points (14G, 21A) in 45 games. The NHL owners would of course lockout the players just as the NHL was hitting it’s peak of popularity, and Nikolai would head back to his old Spartak Moskva team until the NHL kicked off again. Injuries would limit him to only 19 games with the Maple Leafs before being traded. He would only play 20 more NHL games after the trade into the 95-96 season, and a brief stint in the German league before quitting for the year.
Two seasons back with Spartak Moskva would end his playing career. After retiring he would return to the GTA where he would run hockey camps and coach AAA teams. Since 2006 he’s been coaching in Russia, and was most recently employed by Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk as an assistant coach, though the team being cut by the KHL leaves some doubt on his future.
The player the Maple Leafs drafted, Chris Bogas, would play his four years at Michigan State where he would win the 1998 NCAA Championship, then bounce around the minor leagues until retiring in 2010.
