The Air Canada Centre in Toronto held its grand opening
over the weekend with a Maple Leafs win on Saturday night
and a Raptors victory on Sunday afternoon. In Toronto, Josh
Brown writes it "was a good opening weekend at the Air
Canada Centre, already dubbed the Hangar by many fans."
Arena GM Robert Hunter: "We've got a lot of small logistic
problems that we have to work out, but over-all we were
really pleasantly surprised. We had no major or significant
problems." Brown notes that there were "long" lines at the
"concessions stands and a few kiosks weren't open." Fans in
the upper bowl "complained they couldn't see the top part"
of the C$4.5M scoreboard. Hunter said they may put TV
monitors in the upper bowl, and Dir of Food and Beverage
Operations Garth Essery said that the long concession lines
should "disappear as the staff gets more training" (TORONTO
STAR, 2/22). In Toronto, Rosie DiManno reviewed the new
arena after Saturday's opener and wrote, "What's not to
like?," although she noted the large number of platinum
seats in the lower bowl that went empty as fans "seemed in
no hurry to return for the action post-intermission"
(TORONTO STAR, 2/21). The NATIONAL POST's Mike Ulmer calls
the arena "a spectacular building, with sight lines ... as
advertised" (NATIONAL POST, 2/22). In Toronto, David
Shoalts writes on the arena under the sub-head, "The
atmosphere and the ice left a lot to be desired." During
Saturday night's game, the "ice became as soft as the fans"
(GLOBE & MAIL, 2/22). Also in Toronto, Tony Maraschiello
wrote that most of Saturday's crowd of 18,800 were "sitting
on their hands," as it was "eerily quiet" (TORONTO SUN,
2/21). The SUN's Tim Wharnsby wrote the crowd-noise level
was "lower than at" MLG. Leafs LW Derek King: "It felt like
I was in a strange place. But we will get used to it"
(TORONTO SUN, 2/21). After Saturday's game, Canadiens LW
Brian Savage said, "It's weird how far the dressing room is
from the ice. ... Aside from that, it's first class." But
Canadiens C Vincent Damphousse said, "There's not much
difference with all the new buildings" (TORONTO STAR, 2/21).
CENTRE COURT: In Toronto, Jason Botchford reports that
Sunday's souvenir sales were "expected to approach the
records" set Saturday night when sales were up "about 30%"
compared to MLG (TORONTO SUN, 2/22)....NBA Commissioner
David Stern attended yesterday's game and said he is pleased
the Leafs and Raptors are sharing the facility: "It provides
economies of scale, ensures no conflict of dates and
provides some clout in the television and sponsorship
markets. It is the shape of winter sports in North American
sport in the future" (TOR. STAR, 2/21). The AP report notes
that Stern was booed when introduced (AP, 2/22).
