Welcome to Maple Leaf Gardens: Photographs and Memories from Canada’s Most Famous Arena

Generations have come to marvel and celebrate spectacles of all kinds at Maple Leaf Gardens. With its soaring roof and massive walls, this iconic building tells a story with an unlikely beginning and an ending yet to be written. Built against all odds, in the grip of the Great Depression, the Gardens went on to host 2,533 hockey games, with the Toronto Maple Leafs' final regular season record 1,215 wins, 768 losses, and 346 ties. When it closed in 1999, it was the last Original Six arena still standing and remains in use for hockey today as Ryerson University's Mattamy Athletic Centre. In Welcome to Maple Leaf Gardens, Graig Abel and Lance Hornby have composed a rare, stunning, and historically invaluable tribute to what many would consider the Mecca of Canadian sport. Abel's years as the Maple Leafs' photographer make him the perfect guide for sports fans, music lovers, and star-gazers. Readers will experience the building's many innovative features from the rafters to the clock, from the rinkside gold seats right up to the greys, where the "real fans" sat. Alongside Abel's humorous first-hand stories about Harold Ballard, Doug Gilmour, and the celebrities who frequented the Gardens, Hornby gives a press box perspective on covering the Leafs at the end of the Gardens' eventful era and the building's place in history.

Lance Hornby has written, edited, and contributed to several hockey books, including ＂Hockey’s Greatest Moments＂ and＂ The Story of Maple Leaf Gardens.＂ He has covered the Toronto Maple Leafs and the National Hockey League for the ＂Toronto Sun＂ since l986. He lives in Toronto. Graig Abel has been the official photographer of the Toronto Maple Leafs for more than 35 years. He lives in Mississauga, Ontario. Darryl Sittler holds the NHL record for the most points in a game and was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame. He currently represents the Maple Leafs in the areas of marketing, community relations, and alumni relations. He lives in Toronto.