Montreal Canadiens: This Day In Habs History: Jacques Plante Introduces Goalie Mask

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante wore his goalie mask for the first time ever on this day.

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante is arguably the best goaltender in franchise history. He is certainly in the top three with Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy, but choosing one as the best of all time is difficult.

What isn’t difficult is deciding which individual moment in Habs goaltending history had the biggest impact on the game of hockey.

It wasn’t Patrick Roy winking at Tomas Sandstrom in the Stanley Cup Final. It wasn’t Ken Dryden leaning on his stick with his chin. It wasn’t anyone lifting the Stanley Cup or Conn Smythe Trophy or winning the Vezina.

The one moment that happened in the crease of the Montreal Canadiens that has had the largest impact on the game was when Jacques Plante changed the face of goaltending. On this day in 1959, Plante finally had enough with the injuries from being hit with pucks and wore a mask while playing net in an NHL game.

It was unthinkable at the time and hadn’t happened before. It would be unthinkable now for a goaltender to go anywhere near the ice without a helmet and mask on his head.

The story is the stuff of legend. Plante was tired of having his face split open by sticks and pucks and began wearing a mask in practice.

Toe Blake was his head coach at the time and though he had great vision on the ice as a player, and always seemed to be two steps ahead of his opponent during games, he didn’t think a goaltender could properly see the puck with a mask on and thought it would make Plante far less effective in goal.

When Plante was once again sliced open, this time by an Andy Bathgate rocket off the rush on November 1, 1959, Plante told Blake he wouldn’t go back on the ice without a mask. Blake didn’t have much choice, especially since it was the middle of a game and teams didn’t carry a backup at the time.

So, Plante stepped on the ice at Madison Square Garden with his mask. After the game, he told Blake he wouldn’t play another game without one. Blake was not pleased with the idea, but finally realized he didn’t have much choice.

Replacing Plante at the time would have been difficult. He took over as the Canadiens starter in 1954-55 and quickly established himself as the game’s best puck stopper.

He won the Vezina Trophy each year from 1956-60 and also led the team to the Stanley Cup for an unprecedented five straight years. Plante would win the Vezina again in 1962 but this time he was named the Hart Trophy winner as league MVP as well.

Plante was traded to the New York Rangers just a year after he won the Hart Trophy. He didn’t quite continue his strong play with the Rangers, and took three years off before returning to play for the St. Louis Blues in 1968-69. He helped them make it to the Stanley Cup Final twice before landing in Toronto with the Maple Leafs in 1970-71.

Plante was 41 years old that season but posted a 1.88 goals against average and a .942 save percentage in 40 games. Pretty incredible numbers for a 41 year old netminder. It might have earned him some Hart Trophy chatter again if he played a few more games. Oh, and if that kid named Bobby Orr wasn’t doing things no one had seen before.

Plante’s later years after he came out of retirement with the St. Louis Blues, then the Maple Leafs, a short sting with the Boston Bruins and then another year with the Edmonton Oilers in the WHA have mostly been forgotten over time.

However, Plante stepping on the ice on this day, 61 years ago, wearing a mask for the first time will never be forgotten.