There have been a lot of ways that the National Hockey League’s 100th anniversary has been immortalized, but perhaps none of the ways is as beautiful and well crafted as a book.
A Century of NHL Memories – Rare photos from the Hockey Hall of Fame is a book worthy of the weight of the name.
The book was put together by Jim Hynes along with help from the Hockey Hall of Fame, namely the Hall’s Vice President of the Resource Centre and Curator Phil Pritchard and published by Montreal company Griffintown Media.
“I wish I could say that Phil Pritchard and I were in some dusty old room looking at negatives or hovering over a light table,” said Hynes. “But it’s 2017 and the way you do these things today is you get on a database. Someone gives you a password and you log in and see these folders of photos.”
The Hall of Fame did take the tons of pictures it has and cut it down to 1,000 for Hynes who cut it down initially to 300 before cutting it down even further for the book. Hynes said that there could easily be three or four more books from the pictures he looked at.
The book has a specific goal in mind, and it is to tell the story of the NHL through the photographers who witnessed the growth of the league. The goal was to shed a light on some photos that the public has never seen before.
There are some of the iconic photos in the book, such as Lester Patrick tending goal for the New York Rangers, and Bill Barilko’s famous smile. But there are also twists to iconic moments. For example, the frames around the famous Bobby Orr picture were included which is a great snapshot and another view of a moment every hockey fan knows well.
“Starting off we were going to have none of those [iconic] pictures. My complaint about hockey books is that they all have the same photos. There are 25 famous hockey photos that are published over and over and over again and we didn’t want to have that.”
The book is split into categories, which helped ease the impossible task of picking the 130 pictures that made it into the book and create a balance to make sure every part of the league’s history is included.
“If you just picked the 100 or 125 best pictures, you could end up with a lot of photos of stars, or of one team or a lot of photos of goaltenders,” Hynes said noting that in the early days, photographers took pictures of action in front of the net almost exclusively because it was the closest they could get to the ice.
There is a section of the book dedicated to the photographers themselves and the evolution of the technology which is a fun look into the past.
There was also the added balance of showing things from the past that would be unheard of in today’s world.
There’s a photo of Hall of Famer Glenn Hall lighting a cigarette in the locker room after a game and because the Hall was concerned about the image of one of its enshrined members, there was concern about putting that photo in the book.
“There were opinions on both sides to not show that, that it’s a bad message or maybe Glenn Hall would not be thrilled but I argued that this teaches us history,” Hynes said. “The fun thing about a book like this is to see time pass by and see what life was like in hockey from the way people dressed to the way people acted and how that’s all changed.”
Hynes grew up in Chambly, Quebec and lived in Montreal for most of his life. He has written several hockey books, including some centered exclusively around the Montreal Canadiens and talks about the moment he found out that the English version of the book would feature the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I’m a dyed in the wool Habs fan,” he said. “Having a Leaf on the cover of the book kind of stabbed me in the heart.”
Hynes was quick to point out that the French version of the book features Maurice Richard (the photo above is the French cover).
If you are a fan of hockey, photography, or both this book is a great thing to have. The photos are also shown without cropping and as raw as possible including scratches or imperfections as if you are looking at the photo itself. Every turn of the page is like uncovering a new mystery and the actual feel and design of the book is first rate.
For more infomation on the book, you can go to the website here. It is available in French and in English and there is also a collector’s edition.
