Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens, built in 1931 as a large-capacity arena for the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, has maintained its iconic status as Canada’s “cathedral of hockey,” despite the departure of the Maple Leafs to a new arena.
The Gardens was built by workers paid in company stock, providing an incentive for a quick delivery. Breaking ground in April, the arena was complete only eight months later. The team’s association with the arena made it a revered hockey shrine, both through domestic competition between its home team and their arch rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, and also internationally, through Team Canada’s 1972 Summit Series victory over the Soviet Union.
12 x 13
Unique
2048 Map
8617 Tris
Same stats as default arena
The latest addition to the Canada Collection is by far my largest and most difficult one so far. I’m not a hockey fan per se (go Arsenal!) but the architecture of the building and the lack of hockey arenas compelled me to model the Gardens. I don’t know if I would tackle another large building like this, but now that it’s done, I really hope you enjoy it!
Now if someone could make Emirates Stadium in London….