Maple Leaf Gardens
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Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena in Toronto, Ontario, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street.
One of the temples of ice hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1931-1999. The first NHL All-Star Game was held at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1934 as a benefit game for Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ace Bailey, who suffered from a career-ending injury. The first annual NHL All-Star game was also held at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1947, and the Maple Leafs won the last of the franchise's 11 Stanley Cups there in 1967. It was also home to the Toronto Toros of the WHA from 1974-1976, the Toronto Marlboros of the OHL (junior hockey), the Toronto Rock of the NLL, and the Toronto Huskies in their single season in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) (a forerunner of the modern NBA). The NBA's Toronto Raptors played a handful of games at the arena each season from 1995-1999 (mostly when the Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome) was unavailable), and the Buffalo Braves played a few home games each year at the arena as well. It was also one of the few venues outside of the U.S. where Elvis Presley had concerts (one on April 2, 1957).The Beatles once did two shows on the same night in Maple Leaf Gardens which has not been done in any other venue.
History
The Gardens was built by Leafs owner Conn Smythe in a six-month period during 1931 at a cost of C$1.5 million. Smythe partnered with Thomson Bros. Construction of Port Credit Ontario after negotiating a deal that paid shares of the operation in addition to wages to the Thomson workers. In what is to this day considered to be an unparalleled accomplishment the Gardens was built in 6 months and 2 weeks, from groundbreaking to opening night. On November 12, 1931, the Leafs played their first game at the Gardens, a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. At the time, the arena sat about 12,000. Over the years, as the Leafs became a Toronto institution, Smythe and the notorious and colourful Harold Ballard, who later owned the team and arena, conspired to put additional seats in almost anywhere they could be fit - and probably a few where they shouldn't have - building 85 luxury suites and adding balconies above the stands at the end of the ice sheet. Ballard also eliminated some of the Gardens' more unusual features, including the gondola from which Foster Hewitt regularly broadcast games across Canada (the gondola was unceremoniously thrown in a Gardens incinerator) and a large portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (when asked on why he removed the picture, Ballard replied with "She doesn't buy tickets, does she?"). When it was closed, the stadium sat 15,847. The Leafs were so popular that the team sold out every single game from 1946-1999, an unmatched feat in professional sports. It was often called "The Carlton Street Cashbox" in sports reporting.Maple Leaf Gardens hosted the first game in the history of the BAA in 1946, with the Toronto Huskies playing the New York Knicks.
The Beatles made a stop at Maple Leaf Gardens during each of their three American tours (1964, 1965, 1966). It was one of only three venues in North America to host the group that often. The video for "The Reflex" by Duran Duran was shot in Maple Leaf Gardens in March 1984.
During the 1990s, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment ("MLSE") considered a number of sites for a new, modern arena to replace Maple Leaf Gardens, including the southeast corner of Bay and Dundas Streets near the Toronto Eaton Centre (currently the site of the new Ryerson University School of Business). By this time, Maple Leaf Gardens was considered too small and lacking in revenue-generating luxury boxes. In wrestling Whipper Billy Watson made impact to Toronto's wrestling audience in the Maple Leaf Gardens.
The Leafs had no plans to occupy the Air Canada Centre, then under construction by the owners of the Toronto Raptors, and it appeared for a time as though the stalemate between the two sports franchises would result in two new arenas being constructed in Toronto -- one for hockey, one for basketball. When MLSE acquired the Toronto Raptors, however, the Air Canada Centre, which was still under construction, was quickly retrofitted to accommodate both hockey and basketball.
On February 13, 1999 the Toronto Maple Leafs played their last game at Maple Leaf Gardens, suffering an embarrassing 6-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Former Leaf Doug Gilmour scored a fluke goal in that game and notorious tough guy Bob Probert scored the final NHL goal in MLG history during the third period. During the emotional post-game ceremony, legendary Canadian singer Anne Murray performed The Maple Leaf Forever, clad in a Leafs jersey.
Future
Maple Leaf Gardens has been mostly dormant since the ACC opened up, though it has hosted a few ice hockey and indoor lacrosse matches. MLSE refused to sell Maple Leaf Gardens to anyone who proposed to use it as an arena in competition with the Air Canada Centre, and in particular, refused to sell to Eugene Melnyk, the owner of the Toronto St. Michael's Majors OHL hockey team, and NHL rival Ottawa Senators. Various redevelopment schemes were proposed, most notably an entertainment complex containing retail shops and cinemas (similar to the redevelopment of the Montreal Forum), but these plans were abandoned when it was discovered that the tiered arena seating was holding up the exterior walls of the building, acting as a form of interior flying buttress. If the bowl of seating were removed, therefore, the exterior walls would lose most of their support.Loblaw Companies, Canada's largest food retailer, has purchased the Gardens and, as of 2005, has presumably determined that it can overcome the above-noted engineering difficulties as it is converting the interior to accommodate a Real Canadian Superstore and parking. There has been some criticism that the conversion of the building to retail uses diminishes its heritage value, and that Maple Leaf Gardens should continue to serve as an arena in accordance with its rich history and traditions. Others, however, note that the structure has been deteriorating for a number of years, and that its ongoing use for minor league sports and events would not generate sufficient income to secure the building's preservation and restoration. Further, the active re-use of the building would allow it to remain open to the public for years to come.
Quotes
- On the old WWF Maple Leaf Wrestling show, Gorilla Monsoon would call MLG "the mecca of pro wrestling" over and over. (SLAM! Wrestling)
- The Iron Sheik was a standard at Maple Leaf Gardens through both the National Wrestling Alliance and WWE years he said :"Maple Leaf Gardens was always good wrestling atmosphere, good area for wrestling," he said. "My pleasure to come to the Toronto. I have a lot of wrestling fans. They know about Iron Shiek and my background. And like I say, Maple Leaf Gardens was good to me and I never forgot that."
See also
External links
- [Maple Leaf Gardens] Click: past, east, then Maple Leaf Gardens.
- [Maple Leaf Gardens in encyclopedia]
- [Maple Leaf Gardens and wrestling]
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