Shooting Stars: Photographs from the Portnoy Collection at the Hockey Hall of Fame

Janet Money, a former sports editor of the Woodstock Daily
Sentinel-Review, is a Toronto-based freelance writer.

Lewis Portnoy was the staff photographer for the St. Louis Blues of the
National Hockey League in the 1970s. Known for his innovative work (he
used strobe lighting and zoom lenses and had a habit of boring holes in
the rinkside glass to stick his lens through), Portnoy produced a large
collection of top-notch action photos that the Hockey Hall of Fame
acquired in 1996.

The 75 Portnoy photos featured in this book are accompanied by
interesting and sometimes quirky commentary by the author. A photo of
Mike Christie and Mike Walton colliding behind the net prompts an essay
about the new (in the 1970s) Tuuk skate blades Christie was wearing. A
photo of a young Wayne Gretzky inspires a typically offbeat observation;
Podnieks points out Gretzky’s uncanny resemblance to Diana, Princess
of Wales. A shot of Henri Richard prompts an examination of the
accomplishments of NHL brother acts.

Who cares about this stuff? True hockey fans. When there’s no game on
television, they’ll have this thoroughly enjoyable collection of fine
photography and prose to turn to.