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I have been a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs since the late 1950's as a young lad living in Toronto's east end near the Scarborough Bluffs. I can remember watching them on black and white TV. During the 1960's, the Leafs were a thrill to watch; season after season. The game started at 8pm, but they weren't on TV until 9pm. I loved to watch the intermissions with Ward Cornell. He interviewed star players of the day, and some future stars like Bobby Orr. He was playing for the Oshawa Generals when they had him on, brushcut and all. I even liked the Esso commercials with their upbeat tunes.

When I couldn't watch them on TV, I went to bed and listened to Leaf games on my transistor radio with an ear plug on CKFH. I can still remember legend-broadcaster Foster Hewitt saying, "Hello Canada and hockey fans in the United States..." This man was so good, I could close my eyes and actually see the action.

As kids, we went to watch Toronto Marlborough games. They played Junior A hockey back in the 1960's and had some great star-studded teams. We would hop on a streetcar for the 45 minute trip to Maple Leaf Gardens. That's where the Marlies played their home games. It cost $2.00 a seat or $2.50 for the rink-side seats. We always payed the $2.50 to be close to the action. But the real thrill was not watching the Marlies. It was being able to be in Maple Leaf Gardens. To walk down those hollowed halls, to sit in the very seats from which people watched the great Leafs, to be only a few feet from the ice on which stars skated. To me, Maple Leaf Gardens was the Mecca of the entire hockey world.

My biggest thrill, however, came in the early 1960's when Uncle Andy got three tickets to an actual Leaf's game. He had connections. He invited Uncle Donny and me! He had two standing-room tickets and one for a seat way up. They gave me the seat for the entire game. There I was sitting in Maple Leaf Gardens watching the Toronto Maple Leafs play!

The only other time I saw the Leafs in person was at an open house at the Gardens. They had just won the Stanley Cup and offered fans a chance to watch the Leafs practice free of charge. I got there early and managed to get a seat. There were mainly young people there. When the Leafs came onto the ice, everyone cheered as King Clancy bellowed into the microphone, "Here are the hockey champions of the world, the Toronto Maple Leafs"

All that is gone now with the Air Canada Centre. And some of the magic has also disappeared. There is no history in the ACC. The spirits of Maple Leaf Gardens did not follow. The spirit of Foster Hewitt broadcasting games from the gondola, the spirits of captains holding the Stanley Cup high into the air, the spirit of the original hot-stove lounge. That history, that magic are gone forever.

Learn more about this author, Gary Betts.
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