It's just a regular building.

It's made of simple brick and cement, like many of your own homes are constructed from.

But every one of the over 750,000 bricks in this building is a piece of history. Every brick symbolizes the one thing that binds hockey fans from throughout Canada and the world.

These are the bricks that make Maple Leaf Gardens.

When the final Toronto Maple Leafs home game is played in the barn at Church and Carlton this Saturday night, hockey history will be made. The center that wins the opening faceoff will win the final NHL opening faceoff in the history of the Gardens.

The player that scores the game's last goal will have scored the final NHL goal in the history of the Gardens.

The final player to leave the ice will be the last NHL player to skate on the ice at Maple Leaf Gardens.

But, in a way, saying this Saturday's match between Toronto and Chicago, the visiting team for the first game on Nov. 12, 1931, is history is redundant.

Every day of its 67 years of existence has been historic.

Every great player, every hero of hockey has skated on the 85' X 200' ice surface. Howe, Richard, Apps, Morenz, Beliveau, Conacher, Hull, Orr, Lemieux, Gretzky.

They all skated and played on one of the most historic stretches of ice in the world, whether a Maple Leaf was sewn on their chest or not.

Even, throughout time, adjustments made to the barn show the changing times.

The "Blue Seats" were added to increase the seating capacity by about 3,000 fans. Section 40 is of special significance to me - I sat there in my only pilgrimage to the Gardens last December.

Sixty-seven luxury boxes were added around the building in the early 1980s, ushering in an era of big business and money to hockey.

The press box was built around the time of expansion to accommodate the growing requests for media access to the games. I wonder how many people heard Foster Hewitt call some of his games from up there?

It has changed over the years, but every change adds to the allure of the building.

That's why a hockey fan must go there.

That's why I went there.

As I walked in the building, through the front doors under the marquee, I had to think to myself, "Who walked through these doors before me?

"Maybe a young Wayne Gretzky, holding his father's hand as there walked through the same door I'm opening with my dad.

"Maybe a young Brett Hull, coming to the Gardens to see his father play for the opposing team."

But, as I paused for a moment to think about the history I was touching, I realized I had to keep going. There was a mob of cold people behind who wanted to get into the arena. So, I walked through.

As I entered the building, I was amazed by the simplicity of the building. A cement wall with a vendor hocking T-shirts was straight ahead, but nothing else. Nothing like these new arenas where, as soon as you walk in the door, you are greeted by poster advertisements and walls of television screens. This entrance was plain, yet extravagant.

And I walked further. Up to the ticket taker. He had taken hundreds of thousands of tickets in his time there, I'm sure of it. And, although he will never remember me, he'll be the only man to take my ticket when I went to the Gardens to see the Leafs play.

Then, came the moment every hockey fan, or sports fan enjoys - seeing the playing surface for the first time. The problem with the Gardens is that you have to actually walk through the tunnel to see the ice. She doesn't let you sneak a peak until you're ready to be seated.

So, I climbed the stairs to my seat: Blue Section 40.

It had its own little walkway upstairs, isolated from the other sections in the Blue seats. Then, came the moment.

As I walked out of the tunnel and to my seat, I saw the ice. It's not like a holy experience or anything. I didn't find myself closer to God or Howie Morenz, not necessarily in that order. But it's one of those things you'll never forget.

You can see everything from where I was. The ice was completely unobstructed. Every feature of Maple Leaf Gardens that I described earlier was in my view. Even during the game, I found myself wanting, not to watching play, but looking around, scanning every corner of the arena that I could take in.

They sang The Star Spangled Banner first, in honor of the visitors, Anaheim. The singer screwed up the second lyric, prompting a chorus of whistles and jeers from the crowd, but he atoned for it in the end. Then came O, Canada. Luckily, I had been trying to learn the words two days earlier in the CN Tower gift shop - there was a children's book there with the first two verses in it. I figured I didn't need the second verse nor the French translation, so I concentrated on the part familiar to all Canadians.

With 15, 725 people in my choir, I sang:

O Canada, our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts, we see thee rise, The True North strong and free.
>From far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land, glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

And everyone cheered. It was game time.

Now, I'll admit it wasn't the greatest game ever played in Maple Leaf Gardens. Toronto went up 3-0 in the second and eventually won 4-1. But, for me at least, it was the greatest game I had seen. Curtis Joseph, one of my favorite players for his days in St. Louis, made spectacular save after spectacular save. Tie Domi got a rare goal and assist for the No. 1 star. Mats Sundin had two helpers.

But even thought it was just an ordinary game, it was another moment in the history of the Gardens.

Millions have walked through the doors I walked through and the halls I walked down, thousands of games have been played there, but there is only one game in Maple Leaf Gardens that matters to me.

That was December 30, 1998.

The night that I was part of history.

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