The NHL: 100 Years in Pictures & Stories - Tapa dura

In The NHL -- 100 Years in Pictures and Stories, authors Ryan Dixon and Bob Duff recount the events that have shaped the league from its madcap early years all the way to the 30-team elite professional sport that it is today.

From game changing decisions like allowing goalies to wear masks, to jaw-dropping performances like Maurice Richard's 50 goals in 50 games, there is no stone left unturned.

Some of the events you'll read about in The NHL -- 100 Years in Pictures and Stories:

• 1945: Maurice Richard scores 50 goals in 50 games
• 1951: Bill Barilko scores his last goal -- a Cup winner
• 1958: Willie O'Ree breaks the NHL's color barrier
• 1959: Jacques Plante starts to wear a mask
• 1960: Montreal Canadiens first ever five-time Cup champs
• 1966: Bobby Hull breaks Richard's 50 goal record
• 1971: Phil Esposito scores 76 goals
• 1980: Peter Stastny defects to the NHL
• 1981: Wayne Gretzky scores 50 goals in 39 games
• 1989: First Russians play in the NHL
• 1998: NHL players go to the Olympics
• 2003: NHL takes the game outside
• 2005: NHL installs shootout
• 2015: Carey Price becomes first goalie to win four major awards.

With more than 200 images, hundreds of star players and dozens of artifacts from the Hockey Hall of Fame, The NHL -- 100 Years in Pictures and Stories is the definitive guide to the NHL's centennial celebration.

Bob Duff is a veteran sports writer who has covered the Stanley Cup Final, World Cup of Hockey, Super Bowl and the World Series, among other major sporting events, for a variety of news outlets, including: MSNBC.com, the Windsor Star and The Hockey News. His books include The China Wall: The Timeless Legend of Johnny Bower, Nine: A Tribute To Gordie Howe, and The History of Hockeytown.

Ryan Dixon is a writer at large with Canada's premier sports magazine, Sportsnet Magazine. He is also the author of Hockey's Young Guns.