The Leafs opened their new arena on November 12, 1931 against the Chicago Black Hawks. Although the Leafs lost 2-1 with Chicago’s Mush March scoring the first goal in the new rink, the building achieved rave reviews. But the arena and the game itself were not the only important firsts.
Foster Hewitt, from his newly constructed ‘gondola’ high above the ice surface, began his famous Hockey Night in Canada radio broadcasts that would become the definitive Saturday-night tradition for Canadians coast-to-coast. Because of Foster’s description of Leaf games and his build up of their star players, the Leafs became ‘Canada’s team’.
To cap off the opening season at their new home, the Toronto hockey club won the 1932 Stanley Cup for the very first time as the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs defeated the New York Rangers in three straight games in the best of five game series.
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