Jacques Plante - The Masked Man

Jacques Plante was a phenomenal athlete and goaltender who played with imagination, enthusiasm and dedication. Often Plante is incorrectly referred to as the first goaltender to wear a mask in a NHL game. The wearing of a mask by a goaltender in a NHL game was first accomplished by Clint Benedict during the 1920s to protect a broken nose. What Plante can be credited with is the first goaltender to wear a mask on a permanent basis as Benedict quickly stopped wearing the mask once his nose healed.

Plante started wearing a fiberglass mask after missing 13 games due to sinusitis operation, he would originally wear the mask during practices only. Toe Blake, the then head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, was not fond of Plante's mask and objected to him wearing the mask. Blake felt that the mask would hamper Plante's game as it would cause visual problems and thus make Plante less effective.

In a game against the New York Rangers on November 1, 1959, Plante was struck in the face with the puck as a result of an Andy Bathgate shot. The shot opened up a substantial wound on Plante's face causing him to bleed profusely. Plante would leave the game to get stitched up and it is here where NHL history was to begin. Despite Toe Blake's anger and disapproval, Plante held firm with his stance of not returning to the ice without his mask. Plante would return to the game and lead his Canadiens to a 3-1 victory.

Plante would continue to fight Blake on the mask issue. It wasn't until Plante reeled off a 10 game undefeated streak that Blake would relent and allow Plante to continue playing with the mask uncontested. Plante would carry his team to an 18 game undefeated streak while wearing the mask. Plante would become the first goaltender to wear a mask permanently in the NHL and thus make history.

In addition to Plante's history making mask event, he would also be credited with other innovations that would change the way goaltenders played the position. Plante was the first goaltender to leave his crease and stop the puck behind the net for his defensemen. Plante was also the first goaltender to raise his arm to indicate an icing call to his defensemen. Plante also perfected a stand-up style of goaltending that emphasized positional play, cutting down the angles and staying square to the shooter.