Centennial Classic postcard

TORONTO-- Maple Leaf Gardens remains an iconic landmark in downtown Toronto, though its focus is far different than it used to be.
It was the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1931 until 1999, when the Maple Leafs moved to Air Canada Centre, still downtown but built closer to the Toronto lakeshore.
The Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup 11 times while playing at Maple Leaf Gardens. The arena also hosted nearly every major event that came through town, including concerts by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Madonna.

The corner of Carleton Street and Church Street was about Toronto's most-happening corner.
Today, there is action of a different kind.
The building houses a grocery store on its main level, the old ice level, and a very subtle but classy touch exists in the middle of Aisle 25, where you can find a red dot on the floor. It marks the spot where center ice used to be in the Gardens.
Above the grocery store is the Mattamy Athletic Centre, home of the Ryerson University athletic teams.

Go up to the fourth floor and you will still find a hockey rink, today the home of the Ryerson Rams of the Ontario University Athletics Conference. The original roof and its structure still exists above the ice.
The building features a few mementos, posters and some memorabilia from its more famous days, including a cased-in display of a time capsule stashed in a wall by original building owner and owner of the Maple Leafs, Conn Smythe, in 1931. The time capsule was unearthed by a construction worker in 2011 during renovations that were converting the building to its current configuration.

When alumni from the Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings skated there Friday, retired Maple Leafs forward Tiger Williams summed it up best.
"It's a special place, everybody should respect it when they walk into it, even in this new atmosphere here in the Garden, it's great," Williams said. "I'm glad they kept part of it as an arena."