JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

The WHA! The original Jets! Willi Plett! Some people treasure pristine mint editions of old books and magazines. I treasure ragged copies that were well-loved, which display the repeated wear-and-tear of an owner who regularly flipped the pages (just as long as none of those pages are missing). This is one of the most worn items in my collection: The Hockey News 1978 Yearbook , previewing the 1977/78 NHL and WHA seasons. Part of its weary appearance is due to little Jamie's use of it as something to press down upon while scribbling maps, fake hockey cards, or whatever else entered my brain. Part is my childhood fascination with a season just slightly before I followed pro hockey, spotlighting a league (the WHA) which was gone by the time I started watching Hockey Night in Canada and collecting sports cards.

From November 2011 through July 2012 I wrote the "Past Pieces of Toronto" column for OpenFile, which explored elements of the city which no longer exist. The following was originally posted on February 26, 2012, and has been modified to replace incorrect information. This article also formed the basis of a piece I wrote for Heritage Toronto in March 2013 . Arena Gardens interior, between 1940 and 1960. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 964. How to eliminate competition: according to veteran Star sports columnist Jim Proudfoot, when Conn Smythe built Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931 he was determined that the Maple Leafs’ former home on Mutual Street would never host another professional hockey game. One morning, he sent a message to staff at the old venue offering all of them work at his new facility. The catch? The jobs were only available until Smythe left for lunch at 12:15 p.m. The staff raced up to the construction site on Carlton Street, le...

Click image for larger version of the front page of the May 2, 1993 edition of the Toronto Star . I expected to run into honking cars galore. Given last night was do-or-die time for the Maple Leafs, I figured there would be mass celebrations if they managed to survive the first round of the playoffs. In the checkout line at the Vic Park and Gerrard FreshCo, the customer ahead of me asked the clerk if she had heard any game updates. She had—it looked like the boys in blue were headed to victory. Mentally noting that the game was almost over, I anticipated running into happy, honking fans spilling onto the streets. Drove west along Danforth. Nothing. Deciding I wanted to discover the result organically, the dial on my radio developed an allergy to hockey games. The streets were still quiet when I reached home. No honking in the distance as there was when the Leafs won their first match in the series. Overtime, perhaps? A quick glance at social media told me all I nee...

Growing up, the only professional sporting events I went to were major league baseball games. The closest I ever came to seeing an NHL match was the occasional oldtimers game that passed through Amherstburg, where Dad was happy to see the odd player he remembered watching as a kid and roll off the story of how he wound up using a pair of Alex Delvecchio's skates while playing rec games in Leaside in the late 1960s (another player snatched them from a practice, the skates made the rounds of whoever had the same size feet as the Red Wings hall-of-famer). These stories amused me, since the only evidence I ever had of Dad on skates was a faded photograph or two—I don't remember him strapping on a pair during my lifetime. Factors that prevented us from ever going to a Red Wings game? My guesses would be cost, quality of the team (the franchise underwent the transition from the "Dead Things" to contender during my childhood) and possibly my never making a fuss about...

Fetish gear, 1916? Also, does the "before" picture suggest to anyone else the shape of most ghoul noses? It's all in the positioning of the nostril! If anything, "Trados" looks like the first stage in the evolution of the goalie mask - compare the nose-shaper with the guard used by Montreal Maroons goalie Clint Benedict (left) 14 years later. Improvised after an incident during a game with crosstown rivals Les Canadiens, Benedict wore his guard for two games before determining it hindered his vision, leaving NHL goalies bare-faced until Jacques Plante slid on a mask in 1959. Source: The Toronto Daily Star , April 22, 1916