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Leafs '65: The Lost Toronto Maple Leafs Photographs
From celebrated author and sports journalist Stephen Brunt comes a beautifully illustrated, elegiac tribute to the Toronto Maple Leafs of yesteryear.
In 2006, Lewis Parker, an artist and illustrator, was disposing of some of his belongings from years before in preparation of a move. He and his friend Dennis Patchett were going through boxes, and anything that was deemed not worth saving was relegated to a roaring fire. As Lewis passed him box after box, Dennis would pitch them in the blaze, one after the other. Suddenly, he caught the words on a file "Leafs 1965." Inside were photo negatives and contact sheets. "I think we should keep these," said Dennis.
In the fall of 1965, artist Lewis Parker received a call from Maclean's magazine for a possible accompanying a reporter to Peterborough to cover the Toronto Maple Leafs's preseason training camp. Lewis would spend some time with the team, and shoot stills that would run alongside the magazine piece. Though it was a career departure, he agreed, and the result of his time spent with the Stanley Cup-winning team during the training camp before their last Cup win are within these beautiful, visually arresting photography that captures the comraderie and purity of a time in hockey and Canadian history not seen since. With complete, unfettered access to the team -- many of the players from remote farms in the country, and none with agents -- and GM Punch Imlach, Lewis Parker's photos (which, once the piece was cancelled by Maclean's , were never used) reflect a wistful moment in time before the hockey league changed forever.
Accompanied by acclaimed writer Stephen Brunt's essay on the '65 training camp -- based on interviews with team members -- Leafs '65 is the ultimate tribute to the Stanley Cup-winning Toronto Maple Leafs, to a forgotten era of hockey, and to a moment in Canadian history that will resonate with any reader.
In 2006, Lewis Parker, an artist and illustrator, was disposing of some of his belongings from years before in preparation of a move. He and his friend Dennis Patchett were going through boxes, and anything that was deemed not worth saving was relegated to a roaring fire. As Lewis passed him box after box, Dennis would pitch them in the blaze, one after the other. Suddenly, he caught the words on a file "Leafs 1965." Inside were photo negatives and contact sheets. "I think we should keep these," said Dennis.
In the fall of 1965, artist Lewis Parker received a call from Maclean's magazine for a possible accompanying a reporter to Peterborough to cover the Toronto Maple Leafs's preseason training camp. Lewis would spend some time with the team, and shoot stills that would run alongside the magazine piece. Though it was a career departure, he agreed, and the result of his time spent with the Stanley Cup-winning team during the training camp before their last Cup win are within these beautiful, visually arresting photography that captures the comraderie and purity of a time in hockey and Canadian history not seen since. With complete, unfettered access to the team -- many of the players from remote farms in the country, and none with agents -- and GM Punch Imlach, Lewis Parker's photos (which, once the piece was cancelled by Maclean's , were never used) reflect a wistful moment in time before the hockey league changed forever.
Accompanied by acclaimed writer Stephen Brunt's essay on the '65 training camp -- based on interviews with team members -- Leafs '65 is the ultimate tribute to the Stanley Cup-winning Toronto Maple Leafs, to a forgotten era of hockey, and to a moment in Canadian history that will resonate with any reader.
- GenresSports
192 pages, Hardcover
First published October 28, 2014
1 person is currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Brunt
23 books17 followersStephen Brunt is a Canadian sports journalist, well known as a current columnist for Sportsnet.ca, Sportsnet, and as co-host to Jeff Blair on Writers Bloc alongside Richard Deitsch.
Brunt started at The Globe as an arts intern in 1982, after attending journalism school at the University of Western Ontario. He then worked in news, covering the 1984 election, and began to write for the sports section in 1985. His 1988 series on negligence and corruption in boxing won him the Michener Award for public service journalism. In 1989, he became a sports columnist.
Nominated for several National Newspaper Awards, Brunt is also the author of seven books. His work Facing Ali, published in 2003, was named one of the ten best sports books of the year by Sports Illustrated. Brunt makes frequent appearances on sports talk radio shows such as Prime Time Sports and Melnick in the Afternoon on the Team 990 in Montreal. He has been the lead sports columnist for The Globe and Mail since 1989 and was a frequent sports panelist on TVOntario's now-defunct current affairs programme Studio 2. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
He currently resides with his wife, Jeannie, in Hamilton, Ontario, spending much of his summer vacation in Winterhouse Brook, Newfoundland.
Brunt started at The Globe as an arts intern in 1982, after attending journalism school at the University of Western Ontario. He then worked in news, covering the 1984 election, and began to write for the sports section in 1985. His 1988 series on negligence and corruption in boxing won him the Michener Award for public service journalism. In 1989, he became a sports columnist.
Nominated for several National Newspaper Awards, Brunt is also the author of seven books. His work Facing Ali, published in 2003, was named one of the ten best sports books of the year by Sports Illustrated. Brunt makes frequent appearances on sports talk radio shows such as Prime Time Sports and Melnick in the Afternoon on the Team 990 in Montreal. He has been the lead sports columnist for The Globe and Mail since 1989 and was a frequent sports panelist on TVOntario's now-defunct current affairs programme Studio 2. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
He currently resides with his wife, Jeannie, in Hamilton, Ontario, spending much of his summer vacation in Winterhouse Brook, Newfoundland.
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March 29, 2023Read for 2023 TPL challenge. Book about sports.
December 14, 2022
The significance of the title takes a bit of time to register, at least outside of the Toronto area.
It really has been more than 50 years since the Maple Leafs were consistently good.
Toronto won four Stanley Cups from 1961 to 1963, and added another one in 1967. They have flirted with success a bit at times after that, but for the most part times have been dreary for Maple Leafs fans for a half-century.
Therefore, books about this group tend to sell pretty well in Toronto, Canada's center of publishing. There certainly have been a lot of them.
Here's another: "Leafs '65." And it comes with a story.
Photographer Lewis Parker was a well-known photographer in the Sixties, and got the unusual assignment from a magazine of taking photos of the Maple Leafs in training camp in Peterborough, Ont., in 1965. The story fell through, but he still had the pictures ... and kept them for decades. A friend saw a folder marked "Leafs '65" that was full of negatives, heard the story, and suggested that they shouldn't go in the trash. Good decision.
Stephen Brunt, a top Canadian sportswriter, wrote an introduction of sorts as he covered where the Leafs were in the fall of 1965. They weren't the defending champions this time, as they had been in the previous three training camps, but they were still good. The Leafs for the most part had a bunch of wise veterans - Frank Mahovlich, Allan Stanley Dave Keon, Bob Pulford, Tim Horton, Johnny Bower, Terry Sawchuk, Red Kelly, Marcel Provovost. A lot of those players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, although the Montreal Canadiens had the Canadian market cornered on icons. Leading the team was Punch Imlach, an old-school coach and general manager who was crusty but knew his business.
Parker took a couple of hundred black-and-white pictures of whatever interested in him, and many are printed here. Thus, the era comes back to life for a little while, with pictures of Peterborough and its early '60s cars.The players look rather normal, hanging out together without entourages and showing no signs of wealth - because they weren't wealthy. On the ice, the workout sweats look primitive and cheap. The locker room space was small, and some of it was only a step or two up from hooks on the wall. Some of the players are shown smoking, a habit that hung around the sport until the 1980s.
This is mostly a picture book, of course. That means, according to my usual standards, it doesn't take long to go through, and it always a question about whether the price is worth it. In this case, $35 (Canadian) is a little steep. But it certainly gives an interesting look into an era that's long gone. Those who still love those Leaf teams of the Sixties, and their lot is always shrinking at this point, certainly will linger over this book and add a star (or maybe two) to the rating.
It really has been more than 50 years since the Maple Leafs were consistently good.
Toronto won four Stanley Cups from 1961 to 1963, and added another one in 1967. They have flirted with success a bit at times after that, but for the most part times have been dreary for Maple Leafs fans for a half-century.
Therefore, books about this group tend to sell pretty well in Toronto, Canada's center of publishing. There certainly have been a lot of them.
Here's another: "Leafs '65." And it comes with a story.
Photographer Lewis Parker was a well-known photographer in the Sixties, and got the unusual assignment from a magazine of taking photos of the Maple Leafs in training camp in Peterborough, Ont., in 1965. The story fell through, but he still had the pictures ... and kept them for decades. A friend saw a folder marked "Leafs '65" that was full of negatives, heard the story, and suggested that they shouldn't go in the trash. Good decision.
Stephen Brunt, a top Canadian sportswriter, wrote an introduction of sorts as he covered where the Leafs were in the fall of 1965. They weren't the defending champions this time, as they had been in the previous three training camps, but they were still good. The Leafs for the most part had a bunch of wise veterans - Frank Mahovlich, Allan Stanley Dave Keon, Bob Pulford, Tim Horton, Johnny Bower, Terry Sawchuk, Red Kelly, Marcel Provovost. A lot of those players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, although the Montreal Canadiens had the Canadian market cornered on icons. Leading the team was Punch Imlach, an old-school coach and general manager who was crusty but knew his business.
Parker took a couple of hundred black-and-white pictures of whatever interested in him, and many are printed here. Thus, the era comes back to life for a little while, with pictures of Peterborough and its early '60s cars.The players look rather normal, hanging out together without entourages and showing no signs of wealth - because they weren't wealthy. On the ice, the workout sweats look primitive and cheap. The locker room space was small, and some of it was only a step or two up from hooks on the wall. Some of the players are shown smoking, a habit that hung around the sport until the 1980s.
This is mostly a picture book, of course. That means, according to my usual standards, it doesn't take long to go through, and it always a question about whether the price is worth it. In this case, $35 (Canadian) is a little steep. But it certainly gives an interesting look into an era that's long gone. Those who still love those Leaf teams of the Sixties, and their lot is always shrinking at this point, certainly will linger over this book and add a star (or maybe two) to the rating.
August 23, 2016
I was at the library a couple of weeks ago and saw Leaf's 65, The Lost Toronto Maple Leafs Photographs sitting on a shelf and knew I had to have a read. In the 60's as a young boy I breathed, ate and slept hockey, hoping that one day, I would become a Toronto Maple Leaf. You guessed it, I didn't and in fact don't even watch hockey any more.
Not only did I really enjoy the pictures in the book but also Stephen Brunt's writing of that era of hockey. There are many serious and humorous stories about that training camp, the Leaf situation at the time. They had won the Stanley Cup 3 years in a row before losing to the Montreal Canadiens in the 1945-65 season 4 games to 2. Punch Imlach said the leafs were only loaning out the Stanley Cup to the Canadiens for the season.
Imlach was a hard man to deal with. Not only was he the coach, but also the general manager in charge of signing the players. The book deals much with the negotiations between Punch, Bobby Baun (my all time favorite defenceman), and Carl Brewer.
One funny story that came out is a classic well known one. Bobby Baun knew how to negotiate. Gordie Howe did not. Players never, ever, discussed salaries with each other, so didn't know where the bar was set. The Detroit Red Wings manager, Jack Adams, always told Gordie Howe he was the highest paid player in the league, and not to tell other players how much he made as "It would make the other players jealous." When Baun became a Red Wing in the 1968-69 season, Baun told Howe, who was making $45,000 a season at that time (before the big money contracts that came a few years later) that he was making $67,000, $22,000 more than Howe!That was probably the point where players decided to start sharing information and form a Union.
The pictures are excellent, of course. It's fun to see candid shots of some of my favourite players, but the two photo's I enjoyed most, don't even have a player in them. One is just a clutter of leaf's long johns hung up to dry. The other is of the hockey stick rake. Every stick was a CCM and not one had a curved blade.
It was a different era of hockey, and this book does a great job of telling the story. It would be enjoyed by any hockey fan.
Not only did I really enjoy the pictures in the book but also Stephen Brunt's writing of that era of hockey. There are many serious and humorous stories about that training camp, the Leaf situation at the time. They had won the Stanley Cup 3 years in a row before losing to the Montreal Canadiens in the 1945-65 season 4 games to 2. Punch Imlach said the leafs were only loaning out the Stanley Cup to the Canadiens for the season.
Imlach was a hard man to deal with. Not only was he the coach, but also the general manager in charge of signing the players. The book deals much with the negotiations between Punch, Bobby Baun (my all time favorite defenceman), and Carl Brewer.
One funny story that came out is a classic well known one. Bobby Baun knew how to negotiate. Gordie Howe did not. Players never, ever, discussed salaries with each other, so didn't know where the bar was set. The Detroit Red Wings manager, Jack Adams, always told Gordie Howe he was the highest paid player in the league, and not to tell other players how much he made as "It would make the other players jealous." When Baun became a Red Wing in the 1968-69 season, Baun told Howe, who was making $45,000 a season at that time (before the big money contracts that came a few years later) that he was making $67,000, $22,000 more than Howe!That was probably the point where players decided to start sharing information and form a Union.
The pictures are excellent, of course. It's fun to see candid shots of some of my favourite players, but the two photo's I enjoyed most, don't even have a player in them. One is just a clutter of leaf's long johns hung up to dry. The other is of the hockey stick rake. Every stick was a CCM and not one had a curved blade.
It was a different era of hockey, and this book does a great job of telling the story. It would be enjoyed by any hockey fan.
November 13, 2016
Quite disappointing. Most of the pictures are grainy and unintelligible, and the best part of the book is Stephen Brunt's commentary at the beginning.
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