Boston Garden The Boston Garden was a famous arena built November 17 , 1928 in Boston , Massachusetts . Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard , who also built the third incarnation of New York ' s Madison Square Garden , the arena was originally called the " Boston Madison Square Garden " , but eventually got clipped to the Boston Garden . It would eventually outlive its original namesake by some 30 years . Located on top of North Station , a train station , which is a hub for Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ( MBTA ) Commuter Rail and Amtrak trains , the Garden hosted home games for the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics , as well as rock concerts , amateur sports , boxing and wrestling cards , circuses and ice shows . It was also used as an exposition hall for political rallies such as the famous speech by John F . Kennedy in November , 1960 . The Boston Garden was demolished in 1997 , a few years after the completion of its new successor arena , the FleetCenter , which will be called TD Garden beginning in July 2009 . Design . Tex Rickard built the arena specifically with boxing in mind , believing that every seat should be close enough to see the " sweat on the boxers ' brows . " Because of this design theme , when the larger hockey and basketball playing areas were used , fans were much closer to the players than in most arenas , leading to a distinct hometown advantage . The closeness also created spectacular acoustic effects ; one legendary story had a lone fan , sitting in the cheapest seats in the arena , harassing Bruins player Ed Westfall from across the length of the ice , and Westfall turning and giving him " the finger " . When teams made playoff appearances , and a sold out crowd was chanting or screaming , the impact was enormous . During the 1980s , the Boston Garden was known as the most difficult sporting venue for visiting sports team to visit . The Boston Celtics dominance at home , especially during the mid - 80s helped to create this aura . During the 1986 season , the Celtics were 40 - 1 at home , setting the NBA record for home court mastery . They also finished the post season undefeated at home . Combined with the following regular season , the Celtics Garden record was an amazing 79 - 3 between the 1985 - 86 and 1986 - 87 regular seasons . Flaws . The Garden ' s hockey rink was undersized as it was nine feet shorter and two feet narrower than standard ( 200 feet by 85 feet ) , due to the rink being built at a time when the NHL did not have a standard size for rinks . The setup threw visiting players off their games . Its visitor ' s dressing room was notoriously small , hot , and underserved by plumbing ; the Los Angeles Lakers developed a special hatred for it . Rats made the bowels of the Garden their home . The Garden had no air conditioning , resulting in fog forming over the ice during Bruins ' playoff games . During Game 5 of the 1984 NBA Finals , the 97 - degree heat was so intense that oxygen tanks were provided to exhausted players ; to this day this game is known as the " Heat Game . " The electrical systems were notoriously unreliable ; the Bruins ' last two Stanley Cup finals appearances were both disrupted by power outages . On May 24 , 1988 a power transformer blew up during Game 4 of the finals series between the Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers : the contest officially ended in a 3 – 3 tie . However the power - outage had nothing to do with the Garden ; a transformer in the North End knocked out power to all areas , including the Garden . Two years later , on May 15 , 1990 , the lights went out during an overtime finals game between the same two teams , only because they ' d been on for so long ( the game went to 3 overtimes and lasted 6 hours ) Luckily , the lights were turned back on this time , and Game 1 of the series ended with a 3 – 2 triple overtime win for the visiting Oilers . Notable events . The facility hosted games in the 1929 , 1930 , 1939 , 1941 , 1943 , 1946 , 1953 , 1957 , 1958 , 1970 , 1972 , 1974 , 1977 , 1978 , 1988 , and 1990 Stanley Cups , the 1957 , 1958 , 1959 , 1960 , 1961 , 1962 , 1963 , 1964 , 1965 , 1966 , 1968 , 1969 , 1974 , 1976 , 1981 , 1984 , 1985 , 1986 , and 1987 NBA Finals , the NBA All - Star Game in 1951 , 1952 , 1957 , and 1964 , and the NHL All - Star Game in 1971 . The NCAA Frozen Four was contested there from 1972 to 1974 . Boston Garden was the first arena to host the Stanley Cup Finals and NBA Finals at the same time in 1957 . It would achieve the feat again in 1958 and 1974 . Final years . By the early 1990s , Boston Garden had largely outlived its usefulness . The building had no air conditioning and many seats were obstructed by structural pillars . The seats themselves were decades old and terribly cramped . With a capacity of less than 15 , 000 , it was one of the smallest sports arenas in the country . The Garden also lacked luxury suites , which had become a major source of revenue for teams in all professional sports and a veritable necessity . In 1991 , preliminary planning began for the construction of a new arena in Boston . An agreement was finally reached for a new 18 , 000 seat arena to be built just north of the Boston Garden . Construction began on April 29 , 1993 . Fleet Bank purchased the naming rights for the new building , and the new FleetCenter opened in October 1995 . As of July , 2009 it will be named TD Garden . The last official game played at the Garden took place on Sunday , May 14 , 1995 . It was Game 5 of an NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal series between the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils . The Devils edged the Bruins , 3 – 2 , winning the series 4 games to 1 . The last event ever to be held at the Boston Garden was a preseason game between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens on September 28 , 1995 . The Garden sat vacant for almost two years before it was demolished in 1997 . The site where the building once stood is now a parking lot .