Back in 1931, when Maple Leaf Gardens opened, Raymond Arntfield bought season tickets — four of them, at a total cost of $12 — and they’ve been in the family every since.
Raymond would bring his son Donald to games. When Donald took over the tickets in the 1960s, he brought his kids. One of them, Andrew, now has the tickets — they cost $19,500 for a pair — and brought his niece, Sarah. Today, Sarah’s son, Tom Cooper, is going to see his first Leafs game.
It’ll be a historic one, commemorating the anniversary of the first NHL game ever played.
“The Leafs are huge part of the city and this country, and this is a connection for me to my dad and my grandfather,” says Andrew Arntfield, 60. “I’m with (Tom) right now. He’s overwhelmed by it.
“We’re carrying it down to another generation.”
The game against the Carolina Hurricanes is being held at a special time — 2 p.m. The Leafs have encouraged their season subscribers to either bring a child to the game or donate their tickets back to the Leafs so the team can make sure other kids — from schools and hospitals — get a chance to go.
Andrew Arntfield couldn’t be happier to comply, handing the tickets over to his grand-nephew Tom, and Tom’s father, Paul Cooper, with “Go Leafs Go” written on the envelope.
“He’s ecstatic, and feeling very lucky,” says Paul Cooper, Tom’s father, who feels lucky to have married into a family with season tickets. “We’re pretty pumped.”
The Leafs will be wearing their Toronto Arenas sweaters, which date back to 1918-19, the season after the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in the NHL.
The Arntfields are one of 49 families who have owned season tickets since the Gardens opened. The Arntfield family history is intertwined with that of the city, the Leafs, and hockey itself.
“It was a way of life,” says Donald, 92 who has seen the Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup so often, he can’t remember how many he saw in person. “Dad (Raymond) bought the tickets. He probably went to see them at Mutual Street Arena. I’ve been going since I was six or seven years old. I was at the last Stanley Cup they won (1967).
“In between, there were so many. I wasn’t keeping track.”
The Arenas/St. Pats/Maple Leafs have won the Cup 13 times in the NHL. In their inaugural season 100 years ago — when nicknames didn’t seem to matter that much — the Toronto team was simply referred to as Toronto or “the Torontos,” wearing a blue shirt with a white “T.” The Toronto team won the NHL championship that first year, then beat the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association for the Stanley Cup.
The game has changed since Don Arntfield was a youngster watching the likes of Charlie Conacher, Sweeney Schriner and Syl Apps at the Gardens.
“In those days, before the red line (introduced in 1943-44), it wasn’t as fast, but the stickhandling and passing plays were a joy to watch,” says Don Arntfield. “It wasn’t dump it in and let’s go see if we can find the puck. That’s not hockey. But I think it’s getting better these days.”
Indeed, the Maple Leafs, though struggling through a three-game losing streak coming into the game, are considered again an elite team in the NHL.
There have been some dreary eras, particularly through the 1980s when Harold Ballard owned the team, and just recently when the Leafs missed the playoffs in 10 of 11 years. But the family “never” thought of giving their tickets up, says Andrew Arntfield.
“The situation now — and I guess it’s always been like this — is if you give them up, you’ll never get the back again. The waiting list has been so long,” he said. “Even in the dreary years, there was always interest. People always appreciated going to the game. And I look at it now, it was worth keeping because the team is so good, so fun to watch.”