Hockey Pictorial mystery leads down memory lane with McFarlane

It was the early 1970s action photo that first stopped me, two superstars who had enjoyed their greatest success for the team that was their opponent here: Montreal Canadiens forward Frank Mahovlich in tight against Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Jacques Plante.

And then, the mailing label. "B. McFarlane."

Hockey Pictorial magazine, published between 1955-80, was a staple of my youth, a treasure chest of profile stories, photos, cartoons and quizzes.

Almost surely I owned a copy of this February 1972 issue as a 14-year-old, my paper-route earnings paying the $3, seven-issue annual subscription price -- and for Hockey World and Hockey Illustrated subscriptions, $3.50 each for a year.

Now, here was Mahovlich against Plante, this Hockey Pictorial on a shelf deep in Antique Plaza Vintage Rendez-Vous, a delightful little collectibles shop in a 65-year-old strip mall not far from my boyhood Montreal-suburban Pointe-Claire home.

Brian McFarlane and his wife, Joan, arrive at the 2022 Hockey Hall of Fame inductions ceremonies in Toronto, and the cover of McFarlane's long-lost February 1972 Hockey Pictorial magazine. Bruce Bennett, Getty Images

As a teen, I always hoped the cover of my magazines wouldn't be too badly shrouded by the mailing label, and there was one covering most of the Plante headline on this pristine gem, 86 pages sheathed in a plastic pouch.

"B. McFarlane, 25 Tollerton Ave., Willowdale, Ont."

Brian McFarlane? I wondered.

Impossible.

Or was it?

Brian and I go back many years, our work sometimes intersecting. The 91-year-old is an iconic Canadian broadcaster, journalist and author, from 1964-91 a color commentator and studio host for Hockey Night in Canada.

He is widely viewed as hockey's preeminent historian, decorated in 2020 with the Order of Canada (the country's highest civilian honor), recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fame's 1995 Foster Hewitt Award for broadcast excellence and the member of five halls of fame.

Brian McFarlane at St. Lawrence University's Appleton Arena upon his 2017 "Legends of Appleton" induction and featured on the cover of the 1955 NCAA Official Ice Hockey Guide. Courtesy St. Lawrence University; Brian McFarlane

Brian worked games in the broadcast booths of CBS and NBC in the United States, the first Canadian to do so, and for years was part of the local telecasts of the Toronto Maple Leafs until he ran afoul in 1980 of short-tempered then-team co-owner Harold Ballard.

Honorary president of the global Society for International Hockey Research, Brian has written 99 hockey books with his 100th (and his last, he says), "The Maple Leaf Forever," scheduled for publication this fall by At Bay Press. I have perhaps a dozen of his titles in my library, including his first book, published in 1967 at the NHL's half-century mark -- "50 Years of Hockey: An Intimate History of the NHL 1917-67."

As a boy, I played into vinyl dust a 45-rpm record "Clear The Track, Here Comes Shack," a 1966 Toronto chart-topper that Brian wrote as a salute to Maple Leafs wrecking ball Eddie Shack.

Overlapping broadcast and writing careers spun out of his collegiate hockey career. A 1952 All-America center with St. Lawrence University of Canton, New York, Brian's 101 career goals and 10 career hat tricks are team records. The SLU Hall of Famer led three teams to NCAA tournaments, his Skating Saints squads winning 64 and losing only 19.

Brian McFarlane and Hockey Night in Canada guest analyst Bobby Orr in 1976; and an ad from the February 1972 Hockey Pictorial magazine, offering loan of a short NHL timing film that McFarlane had narrated.

He found his way into television and radio in upstate New York, Toronto and Montreal, thus embarking on his life's work. For about 25 years he played on NHL Oldtimers teams, skating with some of the League's all-time greats.

"I'm checking Gordie Howe, Rocket (Richard) and John Ferguson (the Canadiens enforcer)," Brian recalled. "I told 'Fergy' one night, 'Take it easy on this old man.' This was at the Montreal Forum, practically a full house. He didn't answer, he just gave me one of those looks that said, 'Get out of my way or I'll run you over.' I got out of his way."

The Hockey Pictorial was a few feet from a row of Hardy Boys mystery books shelved by the collectibles shop. Twenty-one of the first 25 or so books in the franchise were written between 1927-46 by Brian's father, Leslie, a renowned journalist, novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker, under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon.

The Hardy Boys seemed like a natural background for the magazine, just in case I'd found its original owner, so that's where I photographed it before messaging the image to Brian with a simple question about the mailing label:

"I saw this in an antique store near home. Would this be you?"

His reply came promptly.

"Yes, it's me. I lived at that address for 50 years. B."

Brian McFarlane's Hockey Pictorial was found at the Antique Plaza Vintage Rendez-Vous store in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, among 1950s NHL All-Star metal rod-hockey players; 1961-62 jelly-powder promotional coins of New York Rangers' Andy Hebenton and Larry Cahan; 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Boston Bruins cards; and a 1977-78 NHL schedule. Dave Stubbs

After I picked myself up off the floor, I hustled back to the store and bought the magazine for $10. It was the cost of a year's 1972 subscription for Hockey Pictorial, Hockey World and Hockey Illustrated combined, but worth every penny.

Fifty-one years after it was published in Montreal, here was Brian's Hockey Pictorial, a magazine sideline of The Hockey News founder Ken McKenzie. It is in almost mint condition, perfectly intact, barely a mark on it. Even the crossword puzzle is untouched. The "1-73" on the mailing label indicated the subscription's January 1973 expiration.

"Incredible. What are the odds of this magazine turning up now in a suburban Montreal antique store?" I asked Brian when we connected by phone.

I am slowly working my way through the pages, thinking I should be wearing white gloves.

There are features on Plante, Bruce MacGregor, Gary Smith, Nick Libett, Marc Tardif, the Boston Bruins' "HEC Line" of Ken Hodge, Phil Esposito and Wayne Cashman, the Chicago Black Hawks' 1971 family Christmas party and a flashback to 1940s Canadiens goaltending legend Bill Durnan.

Cartoons. A quiz. Updates on minor-pro American, Western, International and Eastern leagues. Letters to the editor, including four readers looking to join various fan clubs.

Brothers Phil and Tony Esposito endorsed Mylec street-hockey products in a full-page ad in the February 1972 edition of Hockey Pictorial magazine.

Equally good is the advertising:

"Bobby Orr says: It's A Man's World with Yardley Black Label," the inside front cover featuring the Bruins legend's endorsement of after-shave and deodorant.

"Be a stickler about your stick," says the facing full page for Northland hockey sticks of Minnesota.

There are ads for Gunzo's and Gerry Cosby sporting goods stores in Chicago and New York. Cooper shin-guards. Hockey Superstars jigsaw puzzles. A full page plugging Phil and Tony Esposito-endorsed Mylec street-hockey sticks, replacement blades, balls, pucks, goal nets and goalie masks.

Bauer skates. WinnWell helmets. Whiskey and cigarettes. The Orr-Walton Sports Camp in Orillia, Ontario, instructors including Darryl Sittler, Dale Tallon, Jim Rutherford and Bep Guidolin. The Bruce Hyland and Harry Watson Metropolitan Ice Skating School at St. Andrews College in Aurora, Ontario.

Trophies by Birks jewellers. The actor/comedian Leslie Nielsen, not mentioned by name but instantly recognizable plugging the Bank of Montreal.

And an ad for the Brian McFarlane-narrated Gruen-timepiece 16mm film in English or French - "12 action-packed minutes" - on the timing of an NHL game, available for loan.

An incredible time capsule, really.

Three of Brian McFarlane's 99 hockey books, his 100th scheduled for publication this fall. From left: 50 Years of Hockey (his first), 1967; The Best of It Happened In Hockey, 1997; Best of the Original Six, 2004.

I was compelled to dig more deeply into this magazine's pedigree. Within a few days, through store dealer Chris Esposito -- no relation to Phil or Tony -- I made contact with Victoria Jonas, a Montrealer who buys, sells and consigns antiques and collectibles online while working regularly with the store.

Victoria is almost certain that she bought the Hockey Pictorial about two years ago as part of large auction lot, likely from a Toronto dealer. She said she believes she offered the magazine for sale, unsuccessfully, at various shows and on eBay, before she finally put it in the store a couple of weeks.

About a decade ago, Brian and his wife of 67 years, Joan, left Willowdale, about a half-hour north of Toronto, moving to a home in Stouffville, another half hour to the northeast. Around the time his Hockey Pictorial was published, they bought 35 undeveloped acres in Grafton, about 80 miles east of Toronto, on which they built a three-story country log home. The couple's time is spent there, in Stouffville and in Florida.

Brian is joyfully at work today with yet another career, having returned to a long-ago love; he took painting lessons as a teen in Ottawa and once again loves his time spent with canvas and brushes, creating pond-hockey scenes that resonate with his fans.

Brian McFarlane in a video still, during a January 2023 exposition and sale of his hockey paintings in Port Hope, Ontario.

On the phone for an hour, we discussed his art, his broadcasting and writing careers and the NHL of yesterday and today, Brian counting his blessings.

"I'm thinking how fortunate we are to be in Canada with every day a bonus. This is truly the greatest country in the world," he said on July 1, the 156th anniversary of confederation. "As a lad growing up, I often thanked God in my prayers for giving us winter and ice for hockey. That was all we needed to survive a Depression and a couple of World Wars."

His Hockey Pictorial was a mystery worthy of a Hardy Boys novel, having found its way from his hands to mine, entirely by chance, more than a half-century after its publication.

"I was as surprised as you were to see my name and address," Brian said. "I wish I had some memory of how it left my basement. I don't remember subscribing to it, so they must have sent it to me free."

Then, with a laugh:

"I used to get The Hockey News for free all the time, then they got wise and started charging me for it."

Naturally, there's a Hockey News subscription ad in the magazine -- $6 for 35 issues in Canada, $7 in the U.S.

Top photo: Hockey Pictorial, February 1972 edition, with Brian McFarlane's mailing label on the cover. Behind the magazine is part of the young readers' Hardy Boy mystery novel series, 21 of the earliest books written between 1927-46 by McFarlane's father, Leslie, under the pen-name Franklin W. Dixon. Dave Stubbs