February 13, 1999 6:31 AM EST

TORONTO (Ticker) -- Maple Leaf Gardens, the last of the NHL's "Original Six" arenas, will host its last game tonight when the Toronto Maple Leafs face the Chicago Blackhawks.

The same two teams were the opponents in the opener at the hockey shrine on Carlton Street on November 12, 1931. Harold "Mush" March scored the first goal at Maple Leaf Gardens, helping the Blackhawks to a 2-1 victory. Now 90, he will participate in tonight's ceremonial faceoff with 89-year-old George "Red" Horner, the last surviving member of the 1931-32 Maple Leafs.

That figures to be the only pregame festivity, with lengthy and emotional ceremonies set to follow the game.

"It's a great year to be a Leaf," said goaltender Curtis Joseph, an Ontario native. "The closing of the building is much publicized and for good reason. It's a great building and there are a lot of memories here. Just being up the street, I watched many games on Saturday night, following the Leafs. To close this building is going to be something special."

The Maple Leafs have risen to the occasion of this farewell season. Under first-year coach Pat Quinn, Toronto is 30-19-3, already matching its win total for all of last season.

"These days, it's something to be very proud of, so I hope everybody's taking it the right way," said captain Mats Sundin.

More than 100 former Maple Leafs are expected to attend, from Frank Mahovlich and Red Kelly to Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald. Sittler scored more goals (235) at Maple Leaf Gardens than anyone, nine better than Dave Keon, whose longstanding grudge against the team will keep him away from the shrine, even for its final NHL game.

Sittler authored two of the greatest moments in the 68-year history of the building. On February 7, 1976, the Leafs captain set an NHL record with 10 points, collecting six goals and four assists in an 11-4 rout of Boston. Two months later, on April 22, he tied a playoff mark with five goals in an 8-5 triumph over Philadelphia.

But Sittler, like all who have worn the Maple Leafs blue and white sweater over the past three decades, never won a Stanley Cup. The last of Toronto's 11 NHL championships came in 1967, when an aging club topped the Chicago Blackhawks in the semifinals before stunning the Montreal Canadiens in six games.

While Maple Leaf Gardens has hosted countless heroes, the most obvious villain was Harold Ballard, who owned the team during some of its darkest days in the 1970s and '80s. He kept female media members out of the dressing room, tore down the famed gondola where Foster Hewitt became a broadcasting legend, banned Russian teams from the building and refused to put players' names on the back of their jerseys to stimulate the sale of scorecards.

Ballard died in 1990, setting off a bitter battle for control of the Gardens. Remarkably, only three years later the Maple Leafs experienced a renaissance behind gritty captain Doug Gilmour. They reached the Western Conference finals, losing a dramatic seventh game to the Los Angeles Kings, 5-4, as Wayne Gretzky recorded a memorable hat trick.

Gordie Howe, Johnny Bucyk, Alex Delvecchio and Bobby Hull are the only opponents who have enjoyed more success at Maple Leaf Gardens as Gretzky, who grew up in Brantford, Ontario.

"Obviously, it's a special place that holds a lot of memories for me, both childhood and professionally," he said. "It's a building like no other and it's sad that its era has come to a close. At least it will still stand as a monument to all the great hockey that was performed there."

Maple Leaf Gardens will remain standing for at least two years, hosting junior hockey games and concerts. Next week, Toronto opens the state-of-the-art Air Canada Centre by hosting the Montreal Canadiens, who closed the fabled Forum three years ago.

"It's a big rink for the Ontario kids. Obviously, in Quebec it was the Forum and out west they have different rinks. But for a kid growing up in Ontario, you always saw the Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada," said Carolina Hurricanes center Ron Francis, who had five points on Wednesday in his final trip to the Gardens. "You always followed them, you always watched this building and listened to the broadcasts. And to have the opportunity to play at the professional level, it's a dream come true. If you can't get excited to play in this building, it's pretty tough."

That Maple Leaf Gardens ever got built is improbable. Conn Smythe scurried to find investors during the Depression, avoiding an 11th-hour crisis by getting workers to take 20 percent of their salary in arena stock. Only 5 1/2 months after ground was broken, construction was completed.

Opening Night was November 12 and less than five months later, the Leafs completed a three-game sweep of the New York Rangers to capture the Stanley Cup. They won 10 more championships during the life of the Gardens, clinching seven on home ice.

The original Madison Square Garden was the first of the "Original Six" buildings to go, hosting its final game on February 11, 1968. Detroit's Olympia was next on December 15, 1979, followed by Chicago Stadium, which shut its doors after a playoff game on April 28, 1994.

The last game at Boston Garden was played on May 14, 1995, while the torch was passed at the Forum on March 11, 1996.

The passing of Maple Leaf Gardens leaves Pittsburgh's Civic Arena as the NHL's oldest building. "The Igloo" opened on October 11, 1967 and is roughly 2 1/2 months older than the Great Western Forum, which soon will give way to the Staples Center.

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