April 20, 2024

Maple Leaf Gardens was home to The Toronto Maple Leafs from 1931 until 1999 during which time they won the Stanley Cup 11 times. Unfortunately none of these was in the last 32 seasons they played there. Previously, The Leafs had been playing in Arena Gardens on Mutual Street which had been built in 1912. When the capacity of 7,500 people was deemed to be too small by the teams managing director Con Smythe he went looking for a site to build a more impressive arena for the team. He eventually settled on the corner of Church and Carlton Streets which he bought from The T. Eaton Company for $350,000. The map below shows the site as it existed in the 1893 Goads Fire insurance Map.

This picture was taken from the historic display board that is inside the front entrance to the facility as it stands today. It shows the building early in the construction phase.

A 12,473 seat facility was designed by the architectural firm of Ross and Macdonald. The construction contract was awarded to Port Credit company Thomson Brothers Construction. They had been the lowest of ten bidders coming in at $990,000 with an additional $100,000 for steel work. Construction began on June 1, 1931 and was completed in just 5 months and 2 weeks. Where are these people when we need a crosstown subway line built? The final cost was $1.5 million, or $25.9 million in 2021 dollars. The image below shows the building under construction and was taken from the Wikipedia article about the building.

The archive photo below shows the building in 1934 and was taken from the same display board inside the front entrance to the modern building. It shows the older homes that still remained beside the arena. These would have been on the map shown above.

The first game in Maple Leaf Gardens was played on November 12, 1931 with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. This postcard shows the inside of the stadium on that night. Unfortunately the Leafs lost that first game 2-1 to the Blackhawks. The image below shows the opening ceremonies for the building and was taken from the Wikipedia article.

Over the years Maple Leaf Gardens played host to many events including the Ice Capades and a ton of Rock Concerts. Elvis Presley played there on April 2, 1957 and The Beatles on Sept. 7, 1964. Almost every major act played here on their way across North America. I saw my first Rush concert here in November 1982 on their “Signals” tour. It was so good that I saw them again Sept. 1984, March 1986, March 1988, May 1990, Dec. 1991, and May 1994. Rush recorded a concert video of the 1984 “Grace Under Pressure” tour in which I can be seen briefly in a crowd view during the song “The Spirit Of Radio.” These were probably the best seats I had for any concert at The Gardens. I went to at least 25 other concerts here over the years including more than one by each of Jethro Tull and Triumph. Oasis became the last concert to be held at the arena on April 29, 2000.

I also went to several games in the 1999 and 2000 Toronto Rock seasons and watched them win the National Lacrosse Championship both of those seasons. The 2000 Toronto Rock Championship game became the final professional event to be held at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Toronto Maple Leafs played their final game in The Gardens on Feb. 13, 1999 before moving to Air Canada Centre. They lost 6-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks putting loosing bookends on their 67 year run.

After the final events in Maple Leaf Gardens, the facility sat empty for almost a decade as the owners refused to sell it to anyone who might use it in competition with Air Canada Centre. The Gardens was purchased in 2004 by Loblaws for $12 million dollars under an agreement that it wouldn’t be used for sports or entertainment. In 2009 Loblaws partnered with Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) to create a Loblaws grocery store and an athletic facility for the university.

The interior of the old stadium was gutted and new floors were laid for the grocery store and LCBO that went on the ground floor. A red dot was placed on the floor to indicate the original centre ice from the hockey arena. This store opened on November 30th 2011. A second floor was added and an NHL size rink was put in on the third floor along with a fitness centre. Seating for the new rink consists of 2,796 seats from the original arena. The Mattamy Athletic Centre at The Gardens opened September 9, 2012. The image below shows the rafters where the scoreboard for the NHL games used to hang above centre ice. Tons of speakers and lighting equipment were also suspended here for the various concerts that were held over the last five decades of the 20th century.

Maple Leaf Gardens stands as a monument to Toronto sports and entertainment and lives on as a Loblaws, fitness centre and university ice rink. I have a lot of fond memories of events at The Gardens but unfortunately, being in my early 60s means that I am too young to have witnessed a Stanley Cup victory there.

Perhaps this year will be the year that the Maple Leafs have a successful Stanley Cup run!

Google Maps link: Maple Leaf Gardens

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