The Spirit of the Game: Exceptional Photographs from the Hockey Hall of Fame

Ian A. Andrews is a high-school social sciences teacher and editor of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association’s Focus.

Inspired by the expansion of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Dan Diamond has
compiled a picture gallery of some 500 hockey photographs (selected from
more than 500,000 currently available) to “celebrate those qualities
that make hockey matter to the fans and participants.”

Diamond’s choice of visuals does indeed give the fan a feel for the
game. The first section shows the emotional side of the
sport—hockey’s defining qualities. The second section provides a
photographic history of the game from the 1920s to the present; many of
these photos are stills (mostly posed pictures of entire teams), since
action shots were not taken until the 1930s. Color portraits of hockey
stars, which were first published in the 1950s, are well represented.
The largest group of photos was taken in the 1960s, an era particularly
blessed with skilled sports photographers who inhabited the hockey
shrines of Maple Leaf Gardens and the Montreal Forum.

The book is structured so that the pictures tell the story; captions
are refreshingly brief and supplementary. The cover photo depicts a
young Henri Richard being pursued behind the net by an equally young
Bobby Orr, both precariously balanced and very focused on puck
possession. This portrayal of intensity, along with the visual depiction
of a plethora of other emotions, makes this ultimate coffee-table book a
fan’s delight.