Black and Gold : Four Decades of the Boston Bruins in Photographs

Black and Gold is a pictorial romp through four decades of one of the NHL's great Original Six franchises-a personal history of the Boston Bruins as seen through the lens of Steve Babineau, team photographer for 35 years.Over his long career, Babs, as he is known, has captured over one-third of the history of this storied franchise with his work. He has seen many of the greats in the organization and he has photographed them all for the record: Bobby Orr, John Bucyk, Phil Esposito, Terry O'Reilly, Ray Bourque, Cam Neely, Gerry Cheevers, Don Cherry and the Lunchpail Gang, and many more.In glorious color and classic black and white, Black and Gold lovingly captures four decades of Bruins history and the team's characters in over 300 photographs, many of them never published before.With veteran hockey journalist, broadcaster and author Rob Simpson, Babs shares his memories and best-loved moments with the team: from growing up a Bruins fan, to his own early hockey-playing days, getting interested in photography and coming to work for the Bs, and eventually documenting the team and its players through four decades. Black and Gold is an up-close and personal look at the Bruins players, coaches, and fans, as well as the old Boston Garden and the characters who inhabited it.As well as Babs' perspective on the Bruins-from the stands, the penalty box, the press box, and the arena rafters-Black and Gold features interviews with many former Bruins, coaches and general managers, peppering the pages with great first-hand stories and anecdotes on what it means to be a Bruin and share in the great tradition of the franchise; and on the hundreds of blueliners, scorers and playmakers, grinders and enforcers, goalies, and coaches that passed through the organization in the four decades that Babs caught on film.Thirty-five years and some 1,700 games have gone by since Babineau shot his first game back in the 1973-74 season, and he's still counting. Black and Gold is a fitting testament to that great career, and to those who fill its pages.This stunning collection of photographs, of magic moments and commentary from the last four decades will be sure to bring back memories for every Bruins fan who bleeds black and gold.

Rob Simpson is an established hockey reporter, commentator and writer. He has written a number of magazine and newspaper articles about the game on and off the ice, and also penned the 2005 book Between the Lines, about the Hall-of-Fame career of long-time NHL linesman Ray “Scampy” Scapinello. A 25-year veteran of the broadcasting business, Simpson recently spent three years as a Boston Bruins TV program host and rink-side reporter for the New England Sports Network.  He also produced and hosted Hockey Odyssey on the NHL Network. For four years, Simpson produced and hosted Maple Leaf America on Leafs TV in Toronto. His favorite and frequent pastime is travel, which is for fun and business. Presently a Delaware family man off-season, he’s taken a career path less traveled, with previous stops in Alabama, Florida, Australia, Hawaii, and Idaho. 

Photographer Steve Babineau has spent the last 35 years accumulating hundreds of thousands of images of the Boston Bruins, Celtics, and Red Sox, as well as special event and concert photos from the Boston Garden and the TD Banknorth Garden. Hockey being his first love, the former high school player has dedicated himself to capturing the great moments on and off the ice for the Bruins and the NHL in Boston and beyond. His images have appeared in countless magazines, yearbooks, on hockey cards and promotional items, and on-line. Babs currently runs Sports Action Photography with his son Brian, who began taking photos with dad two decades ago. Babineau resides in Massachusetts during the hockey season, for a little while longer anyway, and in Florida during the off-season, where he and his family enjoy frequenting Disney World and the other Disney properties.

“They, the mainstays of the club, treated me like a piece of furniture. I was always around, the conversations would go on whether I was standing there or not. It was relaxed, it was casual, and I had full access.”

—Steve Babineau, Bruins Photographer, on 35 years of photographing the team