Maple Leaf Gardens
- David Hegler
- Jan 29
- 5 min read
Deep in the heart of Toronto stands an ancient relic of a bygone era. In its heyday, it was home to nine Stanley Cup champions while hosting so many historic moments in Toronto. Dubbed one of the "cathedrals" of hockey, Maple Leaf Gardens still very much looks the part from the outside despite not having hosted a major hockey event since 1999. This is its story.
Development
Conn Smythe had a dilemma. The owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs had grown wary of the uncomfortable and non-ventilated confines of their home, the Arena Gardens. He knew that the sport of hockey was growing and that crowds much larger than their 7,500 seat capacity would soon start banging on their doors.
Drawing from the realization that sites such as the Chicago Stadium and Madison Square Garden more than met what he was looking for, Smythe started Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd on February 24, 1931 in an effort to speed up the process of finding a suitable site. The committee looked all over Toronto, from present day Lake Shore Boulevard to land owned by nearby Knox College. Each time, his committee was rejected, Conn Smythe picked himself up, dusted himself off and kept searching.
He finally found a suitable site on property owned by Eaton's. Although the department store maintained the right to approve exterior design, they sold the site to the Maple Leafs and were eager to work with noted architect Ross & MacDonald again. After all, the designers of Ottawa's Château Laurier Hotel had also worked with Eaton's other stores in the past and had done great work.
Ground was broken for Maple Leaf Gardens on May 30, 1931 and was completed in just five months. However, this was in the middle of the Great Depression and money was tight. Facing a $250,000 deficit, Maple Leafs business manager offered stock in the team to the construction workers that would make up 20% of their pay. After some pondering, they obliged.
(side note: While it can't be known how long they held on to those shares, each would have been worth around $0.50 when first handed out and over $100 after World War II. Quite a windfall.)
On November 12, 1931, Maple Leaf Gardens was opened for business. People looked in awe at the state-of-the-art yellow brick arena with the brick facades and clear-span rectangular domed roof that rose an additional 19 meters towards the sky. At a capacity of 12,473, it was the largest arena in Canada when it first opened.
A crowd of over 13,000 watched as Chicago's Mush Marsh scored the first goal in the arena's history. While the Maple Leafs lost 2-1, it was clear that better days were ahead.
The Glory Years
The Maple Leafs ended their first years in their new arena perfectly, sweeping the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Finals for their first title as the Maple Leafs (they'd previously won as the Arenas and the St. Patricks). It was a part of something special for the city of Toronto. As the years went on by, spectators gathered at Maple Leaf Gardens to watch legends such as King Clancy, Dick Irvin, Syl Apps, Tim Horton, Frank Mahovlich and Allan Stanley win 11 Stanley Cups between 1932 through 1967.
By the early 1960's, the Gardens had fallen under new management led by the reviled Harold Ballard. While his teams still won and he did enough to gain induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, he became a thorn in the side of the Maple Leafs and their beloved arena. He once installed a new lighting system that was better for the fans and their new color t.v's, but gave the players a distracting glare that affected games. He even forced the television network to foot the bill by threatening to cut CBC's cables.
In addition to the Maple Leafs, the arena was home to two other iterations of the Maples Leafs, one with the ILL in 1932 and the other in the NLA in 1968. It also hosted the Marlboros of the OHL (1931-1989), the Tecumsehs of the ILL (1932), the Huskies of the BAA (19146-1947), the Buffalo Braves of the NBA (1971-1975), the Toros of the WHA (1974-1976), the Tomahawks of the NLL (1974), soccer's Blizzard of the NASL (1980-1982), the Shooting Stars of the NPSL (1996-1997) and the NBA's Toronto Raptors from their birth in 1997 until they moved to their current home in 1999.
Even though it hosted a slew of hockey games, including the first NHL All Star Game in 1947, Maple Leaf Gardens was about so much more than hockey. It also hosted Winston Churchill in 1932 (where he stressed the need to strengthen the British Empire), the Ali-Chuvalo fight in 1966 (Ali won in 15) and all three of the Beatles concerts that came through Toronto. Perhaps no hockey event was more important for one of hockey's grandest arenas than when Team Canada defeated the powerful Soviet Union in the 1972 Summit Series.
Although Harold Ballard had an apartment built into the arena, he did little else to improve the arena. When the rain leaked through the roof, he merely ordered plastic sheets to cover up the holes. The arena soon fell into disrepair and it wasn't until his death in 1990 when its many issues could finally be resolved.
The Demise and Rebuild
Like any building, eventually, it becomes outdated. By the turn of the century, it was apparent that Maple Leaf Gardens lacked the prized luxury suites and modern amenities that the public had come to expect of its newer arenas. So the Maple Leafs and Raptors built another arena just south of the home that many had aptly dubbed either the "Taj-Ma Hockey" and "Puckingham Palace".
Just a few days after the Raptors ended their time in one of hockey's shrines, the Maple Leafs played their final game in their home of 67 years on February 13, 1999. They lost to the Blackhawks 6-2, a dreary end to a golden era.
Nowadays, Maple Leaf Gardens is no more and in its place stands the Mattamy Athletic Centre. Owned by the Toronto Metropolitan University, the building remains a historic landmark (designated in 2007), meaning that while the ice rink and stands are no more, the outside remains untouched.
All around outside and in, one can walk the historic halls of hockey's past. In fact, the Maple Leaf Gardens block lettering can still be seen on the building from Carlton Street. Inside, the ice rink has been raised by a couple of stories and a Loblaws convenience store serves food for the hungry. In the middle of the store rests a dot noting the very spot where the Maple Leaf Gardens centre ice once lay.
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