Hockey's Original 6

Hockey historians will appreciate the precision action shots taken of the first cohort of NHL stars . . . a record of how hockey has evolved. -Winnipeg Free Press The hockey stars of the 1950s and '60s-Rocket Richard, Gordie Howe, Dave Keon, Bobby Hull, Jean Beliveau, Terry Sawchuk, Tim Horton, and others-were some of the most passionate players in National Hockey League history. These skillful and often colorful athletes played exhilarating hockey and were national heroes in a time when only six teams and fewer than 150 players battled for the Stanley Cup. Hockey's Original 6 celebrates the most dynamic players and exciting moments of the era in more than 120 photographs from the legendary Harold Barkley Archives, including a number of never-or rarely seen-images. From 1942 until the early '70s, Barkley was the Toronto Star's leading sports photographer. He pioneered the use of electronic flash to capture stop-action hockey, and his dramatic work-both black and white and vibrant color-define the pre-expansion period. Two informative essays by Mike Leonetti-hockey historian, archivist, and prolific sportswriter-set Barkley and the photos in context, and short image captions illuminate the players and their feats. The late hockey legend Jean Béliveau provides a personal and insightful foreword. Will take your breath away . . . a collection that captures players' grimaces, suture tracks, missing teeth and Brylcreem-lacquered hair; their primitive equipment, joy and considerable pain, even the depth of snow beneath their tubular-steel blades, the individual planks of lumber that were the arena boards, and the octagonal orange crests on the Tyer Rubber Co. pucks whose impact has smudged the fire-engine-red goalposts. -The Montreal Gazette