Editor In Leaf
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Toronto Maple Leafs: No Longer the Air Canada Centre

By Josh Tessler

TORONTO, ON- MAY 21 - The video board outside the ACC on Maple Leaf Square welcomes Mike Babcock as he is introduced to Toronto at a press conference at the Air Canada Centre May 21, 2015 (David Cooper/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON- MAY 21 - The video board outside the ACC on Maple Leaf Square welcomes Mike Babcock as he is introduced to Toronto at a press conference at the Air Canada Centre May 21, 2015 (David Cooper/Toronto Star via Getty Images) /
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Next season, the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ home ice surface will no longer be named the Air Canada Centre.

On July 1, 2018, coincidentally the same day as the beginning of free agency, the Air Canada Centre will be renamed the Scotiabank Arena. It was announced back in August of last year that Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment (MLSE) brokered a deal with Scotiabank. Scotiabank will own the naming rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors home for the next twenty years.

While the Air Canada Centre won’t be the formal name, I urge fans not to stop calling the building the “ACC”. I assume that many Editor in Leaf readers refer to the building as Maple Leaf Gardens. In addition, some fans probably still call the Toronto Blue Jays‘ ballpark, SkyDome. My point is don’t be intimidated to change the name that you call the arena.

I Loathe The Arena Name Change

I hate the arena name change. Yes, I understand that MLSE had to find a bidder for naming rights, but did it have to be Scotiabank? Before I continue, I don’t mean any offense to Scotiabank or their employees. It’s a great financial institution.

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In my opinion, I would have liked to see a different company take ownership. Across Canada, Scotiabank and Rogers have bought the naming rights for several sports venues. Currently, Scotiabank owns the naming rights to the Calgary Flames‘ arena and the Halifax Mooseheads‘ arena. Similarly, Rogers owns the naming rights to the Blue Jays’ ballpark, the Vancouver Canucks‘ arena, the Edmonton Oilers‘ arena and the Kingston Frontenacs‘ arena.

It’s time for a different conglomerate to take on the naming rights for arenas across Canada. It should have started with the Toronto Maple Leafs. There are several companies in the city of Toronto which would have been a better choice. For example, Royal Bank of Canada, the Hudson Bay Company and/or Sun Life Financial are all based in Toronto and would have provided original naming rights.

Plan C

If you don’t want to go with naming the arena after a financial institution or retail conglomerate. I have a suggestion. I’d love to pitch the name, “Habs Suck Centre”, but I doubt Gary Bettman would sign off on that name change.

My suggestion is that the Toronto Maple Leafs play homage to former Leaf, Tim Horton. At roughly the mid-way point in his career, Horton opened up Tim Hortons. Today, Tim Hortons is one of the biggest coffee chains across Canada. In addition, they have operations across the globe. While their biggest competitor, Starbucks has yet to own naming rights for an arena. Tim Hortons could have showed them up and been the first coffee chain to grab naming rights. With the naming rights, Tim Hortons could become a household name in the coffee industry. Today, when people think coffee. They think Starbucks, but who knows what could have happened if Tim Hortons out-bid Scotiabank.

All-in-All

All-in-all, its just a name and has no impact on the performance of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Maple Leafs fans across the GTA and around the globe will just have to get used to seeing the Scotiabank logo at centre ice.

Next: Was Andersen Robbed of a Vezina Nom?

As mentioned prior, the name change will be made on July 1st and will be in place for the next twenty years.

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