Читать книгу Hope and Heartbreak in Toronto. Life as a Maple Leafs Fan онлайн

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With the teams having split the first four games, the critical fifth contest would go a long way in determining who would win the series. I was in possession of a single ticket that was burning a hole in my hand. A call in to work begging off sick was made, a short nap followed, and then I was on my way to Maple Leaf Gardens.

The 1993 playoff series against the St. Louis Blues was the demarcation line signalling a new era of fan excitement in Toronto. Looking back, it also illustrates the genuine enthusiasm of the crowd that has been lost in the move to the Air Canada Centre.

Courtesy of Graig Abel.

Maple Leaf Gardens is now a grocery store. People rave about how functional a space it is as shoppers buy their groceries amidst telltale indicators of the place’s previous incarnation. I can’t bring myself to visit, because the idea of it being a retail space is just as offensive as the Montreal Forum now being a cinema. I eventually will take a stroll around, and I plan to take my son in much the same way my own father took me for the first time to a Leafs game versus the Chicago Black Hawks on October 10, 1981. The building sits in its original location and is still recognizable for its yellow brick and the white dome that stretches skyward. Flying over Toronto, it’s possible to pick it out fairly easily, a short diagonal line just northeast of the CN Tower. Inside, the gold-red-green-grey seat configuration (with blue replacing green on the ends) is so memorable that I still recognize the colour combination when I spot it in a painting or on someone’s clothing.