TD Garden Opening (1995)

Lore & Background

The arena was built on a separate structure above North Station, not directly atop the original Boston Garden's foundation. The old Boston Garden was demolished after the new arena opened. The first Celtics game at the new arena was on November 3, 1995, a 101–100 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

In Their Own Story

The air inside hit different—crisp, filtered, and smelling of fresh popcorn and polished maple rather than the stale beer and decades of cigar smoke that clung to the Old Garden's rafters. In section 102, a veteran fan tilted his head up, searching for the retired numbers that would soon hang in their new home, feeling the strange silence of a building that hadn't yet absorbed a decade of screams. As the first buzzer sounded in this new cathedral, a hush of reverence swept through the crowd; the physical shell of the Old Garden had crumbled, but the spirit of the Celtics bounced off these new walls, unbroken and ready for whatever came next.

Reader's Guide

TD Garden is owned by Delaware North and named after sponsor TD Bank. The naming rights deal extends through June 2045. The arena hosts the annual Beanpot college hockey tournament and Hockey East Championships, and has hosted NCAA basketball and hockey tournaments, figure skating championships, and the 2021 Laver Cup.

Did You Know?

• The arena was originally slated to open as the Shawmut Center, but a merger forced a name change to FleetCenter before opening.
• The first major event after the TD Banknorth naming rights announcement was the 2005 Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
• In 2005, the FleetCenter auctioned one-day naming rights on eBay, with proceeds donated to Boston-area charities.