I saw my first game at Maple Leaf Gardens as a six year old kid in 1996. As someone who was unfortunately born into the sado-masochistic cult known as Leafs fans — Thanks Dad! Great taste! We’ll discuss the Buffalo Bills later! — this was a big moment in my life. February 24, 1996. The Dallas Stars rolled into town and the big storyline was recently acquired winger Dave Gagner was playing his first game against his former team. It also turned out to be Pat Burns’ last ever home game as Leafs head coach because that team was definitely his fault and had nothing to do with an utter lack of depth.
The Leafs lost that game by a 3-2 score because of course they did. Andy Moog narrowly outdueled Felix Potvin but hey, Dave Gagner scored so take that Dallas. I will say though, one thing I recall much more vividly than the soul-sucking way the Toronto Maple Leafs continued to do what they do was the awe I had at six years old for this arena. The banners, the pictures, the scoreboard, even the way the rink was painted. It was an opiate well before I knew the term and it came courtesy of Maple Leaf Gardens.
That rink closed, we thought, for good a little under three years later. But, as it turns out, hockey came back to MLG courtesy of the Ryerson Rams this past Friday night.
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