I finally ended up at the old #Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens at Church and Carlton where the crowds had died down and you don't have to wait in line for hours to get inside what is now a Loblaws grocery store and a sports facility for Ryerson University. The sign along Carlton Street still reads Maple Leaf Gardens, but now the title is framed by the name of the University, which will name it's facility the Peter Gilgan Athletic Centre and will feature a new ice hockey rink. It also has a pretty cool hockey mural near the cart corral.
The store looks nice, not just a spacious white industrial/commercial space above and aisles of food below, but lots of wood and colour. I really wanted to see the giant Maple Leaf made from old Gardens blue seats. The art installation is on the purposely unfinished wall near the entrance and which bears witness to the old stadium structure. I forgot to check if they kept the long trough that they used for a urinal in the men's room.
You can find a dot on the floor which signifies centre ice and other items that pay homage to a golden age of the home town professional hockey team the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL.
Centre Ice dot
See more of the new Maple Leaf Gardens after the jump.
The pillars have posters of past performers and events held at the Gardens. Here are the Roller Follies from 1943.
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