GOOD-BYE, GARDENS; KINGS BID FAREWELL TO HISTORIC HOME OF MAPLE LEAFS.

Byline: Roger Phillips

Ray Ferraro grew up nearly a continent away from here, but as a young boy he often dreamed of an old shrine on Carlton Street.

``Maple Leaf Gardens is one of the rinks growing up as a kid that you always dreamed you would play in,'' said the Kings' Ferraro, a native of British Columbia. ``I've had a lot of good memories in there and watched a lot of hockey from there when I was a kid. I'm glad we get one last chance to go there.''

The Kings game with the Maple Leafs on Wednesday was their last in the Gardens, which opened in 1931. On Feb. 13, the Leafs will play their final game there, against the Chicago Blackhawks. One week later, they'll christen the new Air Canada Centre against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Leafs will leave behind a treasure-trove of hockey history and memories, the home to 11 of their 13 Stanley Cup championship teams, the last in 1967. It is the last of the old hockey palaces, which have been replaced in recent years by dollar-driven new edifices.

``The magic of any arena is the sense of intimacy it provides,'' Toronto general manager Ken Dryden said. ``If you can't generate a sense of intimacy, it doesn't feel right. That sense of closeness with the guy next to you and with 16,000 or 18,000 other people is why you go into an arena and don't sit at home in the family room and watch the game on television. That's our challenge.''

With the knowledge that the Gardens' days are numbered - 13 games remain - it has been a time for nostalgia, though not everyone has felt sentimental.

``The fans see the glory and greatness in the building, but they put us in a hellhole, down in this dungeon,'' Edmonton assistant coach Ted Green said of the Gardens' cramped visiting dressing room. ``It still has the first coat of paint (former owner) Harold Ballard put on it, and the rug's the same one (long-dead Leafs icon) King Clancy walked on as a kid.

``I'm not sorry most of the old buildings are gone. I do miss the Montreal Forum. That was a great place. But Boston, Chicago, this place in Toronto . . . rats, cockroaches. The pictures and memories are easily transportable.''

The man who scored the first goal in Gardens history 67 years ago - a Chicago Blackhawk - is alive, even though the NHL's Official Guide and Record Book says otherwise. And 90-year-old Harold ``Mush'' March has the first puck to light the lamp at the Gardens.

``The puck is right where I can see it,'' March recently told the Chicago Sun-Times. ``My picture is on it. It was just one of those things when you're there at the right time for something special. I've been to a lot of affairs where they ask me about the goal. No one's offered me money for the puck, but I'd never sell it anyway.''

If Kings goalie Jamie Storr had the puck, he probably wouldn't sell it, either. Storr, though 68 years younger than March, appreciates the history of the Gardens.

Storr grew up in the Toronto area and remembers listening to his grandmother's stories of attending games at the Gardens half a century ago. Last season, Storr played in the Gardens for the first time, recording a 3-2 victory.

``To me, it's a dream and it's a dream that came true last year,'' Storr said. ``You never look back upon a game at Maple Leaf Gardens as anything but a special moment.''

The building also holds a special memory for the Kings. Five years ago, Maple Leaf Gardens was the scene of the most significant victory in Los Angeles hockey history - a seventh-game playoff triumph that advanced the Kings to their first and so far only Stanley Cup finals.