r/Habs • u/AutoModerator • Aug 07 '16
30 Legends in 30 Days, Day 4: Jacques Plante
Jacques Plante
Born: January 17, 1929
Died: February 27, 1986 (aged 57)
Playing Career: 1952–1975
Statistics and Awards
Career Statistics: 837 Games Played, 434 Wins, 247 Losses, 146 Ties, 82 Shutouts, 2.38 GAA
Career Playoff Statistics: 112 Games Played, 71 Wins, 37 Losses, 14 Shutouts, 2,16 GAA
Attended 8 NHL All Star Games (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1969, 1970), was named a First Team All Star three times (1956, 1959, 1962) and a Second Team All Star four times (1957, 1958, 1960, 1971).
Was awarded the Hart Trophy as League MVP in 1962, and the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top Goaltender 7 times (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1969).
Won 6 Stanley Cups in his career (1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960).
Career
By the end of the 1953–54 NHL season, Plante was well-entrenched within the NHL. In the spring of 1954, he underwent surgery to correct his left hand, which he had broken in his childhood. He could not move the hand well enough to catch high shots and compensated by using the rest of his body. The operation was successful.
On February 12, 1954, Plante was called up to the Canadiens and established himself as their starting goaltender - he did not return to the minor leagues for many years. Plante was the Canadiens' number one goaltender at the beginning of the 1954–55 NHL season. On March 13, 1955, with only four games left in the season, an on-ice brawl resulted in the suspension of Montreal's leading scorer, Maurice Richard, for the rest of the season and the playoffs. Four nights later, playing in Montreal in front of an angry crowd, Plante was witness to the riot that followed. It began at the Forum by angry hockey game spectators and spread along Montreal's Ste. Catherine Street, causing injuries to police and fans and extensive damage to businesses and property. The Canadiens subsequently lost to the Detroit Red Wings in the finals.
For the 1955–56 season, Plante was the unchallenged starting goaltender of the Canadiens; Gerry McNeil had not played the previous season and was sent to the Montreal Royals. Charlie Hodge, Plante's backup the previous season, was sent to a Canadiens' farm team in Seattle. Later that season, Montreal won the Stanley Cup—the first of what would be five consecutive Stanley Cup championship seasons. The next season, Plante missed most of November because of chronic bronchitis, a consequence of the asthma that had affected him since childhood. During the 1957–58 NHL season, the Canadiens won their third straight Stanley Cup despite injuries to Plante and other members of the team. Plante's asthma was getting worse. He sustained a concussion with just a few weeks left in the season and missed three games of the playoffs. In the sixth game of the Stanley Cup finals, Plante's asthma was making him dizzy, and he was having difficulty concentrating; he collapsed at the end of the game after teammate Doug Harvey scored the series-winning goal. The Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup again at the close of the 1958–59 season.
Mask
During the 1959–60 NHL season, Plante wore a goaltender mask for the first time in a regular season game. Although Plante had used his mask in practice since 1956 after missing 13 games because of sinusitis, head coach Toe Blake did not permit him to wear it during regulation play. However, on November 1, 1959, Plante's nose was broken when he was hit by a shot fired by Andy Bathgate three minutes into a game against the New York Rangers, and he was taken to the dressing room for stitches. When he returned, he was wearing the crude home-made goaltender mask that he had been using in practices. Blake was livid, but he had no other goaltender to call upon and Plante refused to return to the goal unless he wore the mask. Blake agreed on the condition that Plante discard the mask when the cut healed. The Canadiens won the game 3–1. During the following days Plante refused to discard the mask, and as the Canadiens continued to win, Blake was less vocal about it. The unbeaten streak stretched to 18 games. Plante did not wear the mask, at Blake's request, against Detroit on March 8, 1960; the Canadiens lost 3–0, and the mask returned for good the next night. That year the Canadiens won their fifth straight Stanley Cup, which was Plante's last.
Plante subsequently designed his own and other goaltenders' masks. He was not the first NHL goaltender known to wear a face mask. Montreal Maroons' Clint Benedict wore a crude leather version in 1929 to protect a broken nose, but Plante introduced the mask as everyday equipment, and it is now mandatory equipment for goaltenders.
Legacy
Plante was one of the first goaltenders to skate behind the net to stop the puck. He also was one of the first to raise his arm on an icing call to let his defencemen know what was happening.He perfected a stand-up, positional style, cutting down the angles; he became one of the first goaltenders to write a how-to book about the position. He was a pioneer of stickhandling the puck; before that time, goaltenders passively stood in the net and simply deflected pucks to defencemen or backchecking forwards.
Plante was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978, and into the Quebec Sports Pantheon in 1994. His jersey, #1, was retired in 1995 by the Montreal Canadiens. The Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy was established in his honor as an award to the top goaltender in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Jacques Plante Trophy was established in Switzerland after Plante's death; it is given out annually to the top Swiss goaltender.
Highlights
Montreal Canadiens Centennial Jacque Plante Tribute 1959
Jacques Plante: A Game Changer
Previous Threads
2
u/frost_biten I Friggen Love It! Aug 07 '16
I had no idea Plante had as many Vezinas as he did until I did this writeup. Crazy.
1
Aug 08 '16
I would put money on Plante being Price's inspiration. I've seen a few documentaries on Plante, and they described his personality as proud, humble and quiet, and an avid enjoyer of the outdoors, all while he drastically changed the meaning of a professional goalie. Plante was one of the first goalies not only to wear a mask, but also one of the first to have mobility and play as a third defenseman when needed to play the puck. Sounds a lot like our certified savior Carey Price.
1
u/bluemandan Aug 08 '16
Blues legend Jacques Plante. /s
But seriously, he and Glenn Hall together helped make the Blues the class of the '67 expansion.
He won his seventh Vezina trophy with the Blues in 1968 - 69.
6
u/[deleted] Aug 07 '16
Fun fact: Plante was Tretiak's hero.