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TD Banknorth Garden Review

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TD Banknorth Garden

Address: Causeway St. at Canal St., Old West End, Boston, MA, 02114 | Map It
Phone: 617/624-1000
www.tdbanknorthgarden.com

Category: Sports Venues
Location: The Old West End

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Fodor's Review:

Diehards still moan about the loss of the old Boston Garden, a much more intimate venue than this mammoth facility, which opened in 1995. Well, now they've got the next best thing. A decade after it opened as the FleetCenter, the home of the Celtics (basketball) and Bruins (hockey) is once again known as the Garden. Okay, so it's got the name of a bank attached now, but to locals it's once again just the good old "Gah-den." The original—which opened in 1928 and was famously the only indoor court in the National Basketball Association where games could be called on account of rain—is fondly remembered as the playing grounds for the likes of Larry Bird and Bobby Orr. Still, the new Garden, with its air-conditioning, comfier seats, improved food selection, a 1,200-vehicle parking garage, and nearly double the number of bathrooms, has won grudging acceptance. After all, the Bruins now play on a regulation-size rink, and there are no obstructed views—though the place is so big you might need binoculars. The Garden occasionally offers public-skating sessions in the winter months; call ahead for hours and prices. The fifth and sixth levels of the TD Banknorth Garden house the Sports Museum of New England (Use west premium seating entrance. 617/624-1234. www.sportsmuseum.org), where displays of memorabilia and photographs showcase the history and the legends behind Boston's obsession with sports. Take a behind-the-scenes tour of locker and interview rooms in the off-season, or test your sports knowledge with interactive games. You can even see how you stand up to life-size statues of sports heroes Carl Yastrzemski and Larry Bird. The museum is open daily 11-5, with admission allowed only on the hour. Last entrance is at 3 PM on most days, 2 PM on game days; admission is $6.