Why The Best Seats At The Old Garden Were The Cheapest

In this day and age it's hard to believe that the old Garden – on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets – was not built for hockey.

When the arena opened in 1925, MSG promoter Tex Rickard featured boxing -- Rickard's favorite – six-day bike racing and other attractions including political conventions and flower shows, among others.

"Hockey was an afterthought," said Stan Saplin, Rangers historian-publicist from 1946-1950. "Rickard didn't even have an ice plant installed until saw an NHL game in Montreal.

"That was in the 1924-1925 season and a year later the ice plant was installed and The Garden had its first hockey team, the NHL's New York Americans."

But because it originally wasn't blueprinted for hockey The Garden's seating arrangements were a bit cockeyed.

There were no problems downstairs where the end and side arenas were the most expensive ducats. Nor was there an issue with the mezzanine. But the balcony was another story.

While vision was fine from the end balcony, this was not the case with the couple of thousand pews hanging from the side balcony.

Saplin: "From the third row of the side balcony on up, a fan couldn't see the near boards down below and also couldn't see a few feet of ice by the near boards. In a sense, a fan sitting in the third row – and on up – had to 'imagine" what was going on down below."

But the beauty part of the side balcony was that the seats in Row A and Row B boasted the best overall viewing in the house. However they were unreserved and it was first come, first served.

"The trick," recalled longtime fan Paul Gardella, "was to get the side balcony ticket early, get near the start of the line and hustle up the long stairways so that you got there in time for the first or second row."

In 1954 a side balcony ticket went for a buck-and-a-quarter. That's what The Maven paid for a side balcony ticket 70 years ago.

The Rangers beat the hated Bruins and I can attest that, sitting in that front row, I had the best seat in the house!