Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club) is a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team is one of the "Original Six" league members. They are owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Ltd. and are represented by chairman Larry Tanenbaum. Their general manager is Dave Nonis. Their head coach is Randy Carlyle. In February 1999 they moved to Air Canada Centre, which replaced Maple Leaf Gardens, their home since 1931.

The franchise was founded in 1917, operating simply as Toronto and known today as the Toronto Arenas, as it was operated by the Toronto Arena Company, owners of the Arena Gardens arena. In 1919, the NHL transferred the franchise to new owners who christened the team the Toronto St. Patricks. The franchise was sold in 1926 and was renamed the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club. The team colours are navy blue and white.

The Maple Leafs have won thirteen Stanley Cup championships, second only to the twenty-four championships of their primary rival, the Montreal Canadiens. They won their last championship in 1967. Their 47-year drought between championships is currently the longest in the NHL.

With an estimated 2013 worth of US$1.15 billion, the Leafs are the most valuable franchise in the NHL, followed by the New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens. In 2014, they were ranked by Forbes as the 26th most valuable sports team in the world (and the only NHL team to be in the top 50).

Scotiabank Arena

The Air Canada Centre (ACC) (French: Centre Air Canada) is a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). It was also home to the Toronto Phantoms of the Arena Football League (AFL) during their brief existence. The arena is popularly known as the ACC or the Hangar (the latter nickname came from its sponsorship by Air Canada).

The arena is owned and operated by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE), the same group that owns both the Leafs and Raptors, and is 665,000 square feet (61,800 square metres) in size. In 2008, the ACC was the fifth busiest arena in the world and the busiest in Canada. Air Canada Centre is connected to Union Station and the underground pedestrian PATH system, providing access to public transportation (TTC's Union subway station and GO Transit). There are also 13,000 parking spaces.

The Air Canada Centre has, from its initial design to completion, revolutionized many concepts included in new arenas and stadiums built since then. These features include luxury suites accessible on the ground floor, splitting the main scoreboard into several sections, rotating all sponsor signage in the bowl at once (to allow dominant messaging), and multiple restaurants in and out of the main arena bowl view.