Ah, behold the almighty Fleet Center, home of the Boston Bruins and Celtics. As many of you know, the Boston Garden was retired last April to make way for New England's new Fleet Center.

The Fleet Center is the new, multi-million dollar sports complex, hosting almost 20,000 people for events. Being a sports enthusiast, I decided I needed to check out what could be worth so much money to construct. So I called Ticketron and got a Bruins' ticket - the Bruins vs. the Winnipeg Jets.

As I pulled into the over-priced $15 a spot parking garage, I could feel the old aura of past Bruins' games. The excited fans poured into the building. Restless non-ticket holders scampered around the ticket window, and I heard the all-too-familiar cry of "Tickets, here, I got two. Hey, buddy, do you need some tickets?" in that ever-so-annoying Bean-town accent.

As I proceeded toward the entrance to this immensely hi-tech building, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were restaurants and stores, including Strawberries Music Store and Papa Gino's Pizza. This place was illustrious and elegant. When I got through the stores and the bustling crowd, I came upon a series of escalators that brought me to my desired level. I couldn't believe how all out Lawrence C. Moulter (the Fleet Center President) had gone. Since I had plenty of time before the opening face off, I tried to get a pamphlet or some information on the building. Lucky for me there was an usher and a security guard at every entrance to the actual rink. I politely asked if there was a place to get such information and sure enough, the Fleet Center had a customer service office.

From my quest I discovered that the Fleet Center can host 17,565 people for hockey games, 18,854 for basketball games and 19,580 people for concerts. There are new additions including Club seats (2,442), ledge seats (135) and 13 escalators, not to mention central air conditioning and restaurants and the center operates year-round as opposed to the Garden which operated nine to 12 months of the year.

After obtaining this wealth of information, I made my way to my seat. As I went through the door to the arena I couldn't believe it. It was incredible. Every seat seemed to be right where the action was. There was no such thing as a bad seat. It was just amazing! The design of the complex was great. There were executive suites around the rink, the balcony was totally unobstructed, unlike the old Garden where steel poles got in your way. There was even a new multi-million dollar scoreboard that had four big screen TVs on each side.

The greatest thing of all was the old adrenaline pumping, the excited feeling swelling through my blood when the Bruins came onto the ice, and it didn't have to do with the extravagant light show. It was the old-fashioned feeling that I had experienced so often as a kid.

As the game started, I watched the million-dollar screens, enjoyed the new seats and grabbed a bite to eat at Papa Gino's in-between periods. The Bruins won as usual in an exciting fashion, with a come-from-behind 5-4 victory. Yet nothing had seemed to change. In spite of the high-tech atmosphere, the new Fleet Center had passed the test. It was worthy of replacing our precious Garden! l