Many hockey purists will argue that the glory days of hockey existed between 1942 and 1967, a period that was named the “Golden Era” of hockey, whereby, each season, six teams battled for on-ice supremacy and the right to hold the Stanley Cup aloft come the middle-of-May.
It can also be said that today’s NHL players are faster, stronger, and a lot richer than their predecessors of the original six NHL, but then again most genres of culture have suffered considerable change over time. Prolific hockey writer and historian Mike Leonetti best illustrates this point and the not-so-subtle changes to the NHL game in his latest hockey book,
Hockey's Original 6 (Greystone Books, 2011). Leonetti writes, “In 1957, the NHL players tried to unionize – with great trepidation – but were not able to start their association until the league doubled in size ten years later. There was never any talk of lockouts or strikes, and hockey fans never even heard the term “free agent.” He continues, “the “Golden Era” of hockey was a much simpler, uncomplicated, purer age.”
Leonetti’s point is not to be misconstrued as being anti-union or unsympathetic to the mistreatment suffered by most NHL stars of the “Golden Era.” Their grievances with management would prove to be well founded, but at the same time hockey was being played in its purist and most illustrious form. It was all about what happened on the ice back in the original six. Hockey Night in Canada was an institution and an event not to be missed on any Saturday night.
Hockey’s Original 6 celebrates the greatest players that played in the original six NHL - Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk, Dave Keon, Tim Horton, and Jean Béliveau to name just a few. Béliveau also writes a personal and insightful forward to the book, sharing his thoughts and views on his career with the Montreal Canadiens and the state of the game today.
Along with two informative essays from Leonetti, there are more than 100 photographs throughout the book from the legendary Harold Barkley Archives. Barkley’s photographs prove without a shadow of doubt that he was one of the most innovative hockey photographers in history. Throughout his career, Barkley’s photographs have appeared in prestigious magazines like,
Hockey Illustrated, Sports Illustrated, Star Weekly, and
The Star.
Barkley’s visit with a Swedish engineer resulted in his pioneering the usage of a strobe lighting system, designed to offset the poor lighting of NHL arenas, and better highlight, for one split second, the areas of the ice that Barkley wanted to photograph. The results were remarkable. His images were captured with incredible sharpness, detail, and light. To best describe Barkley’s talent, Leonetti writes, “The word “photography” means, literally, writing with light. If that is the case, we can say that Barkley wrote poetry.”
With the holidays fast approaching
Hockey’s Original 6 would make the perfect gift for hockey fans, history buffs, and art collectors.
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