For a combined 50\u002Dplus years, Dennis Miles and Graig Abel had the greatest of all Maple Leaf photo ops.
But their memory sticks are almost full and retirement created a conundrum for Miles, who is 82, and Abel, now in his 70s. The pre-digital-era negatives and pictures for all that hockey were already crowding their respective homes in Mississauga. And Abel’s downsizing for a move to his cottage near Peterborough made him worry the bulky binders and the vast history within would be neglected and possibly damaged if not properly stored.
“I had to have a safe place,” Abel said. “For the games, I’d archived each negative by date, names of players, everything. I was called in for pictures for every subject by bosses like Ballard and Stavro. Even the cake presentations when a celebrity came to a Leaf game.” “We have excellent museum-quality preservation conditions here. It’s not like other places don’t do a good job, but hockey is our focus.”
Visitors to the Gardens, SBA or TV viewers will be familiar with many of Abel’s stills. His classics include Doug Gilmour’s double-overtime wraparound goal in the 1993 playoffs, Rick Vaive’s first of three 50th goals, a twilight exterior of the Gardens before its 1999 closing and many characters of Carlton St. from Ballard in his bunker to Joe Bowen in the radio booth.
Gilmour created 93 limited edition framed portraits of the moment, keeping No. 1 for himself, giving No. 2 to Abel. He was also in prime position when Tiger Williams came back to the Gardens for the first time after the 1980 trade with Vancouver, scored and rode his stick like a horse in celebration. Williams requested dozens of those prints to sign over the years, a cash cow for Abel.
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