Born: January 17, 1929 Died: February 27, 1986
Place of Birth: Shawinigan Falls, Quebec
Major Notes:
Jacques Plante designed the forerunner model of the modern day goalie mask.
He was the first goalie to wear the goalie mask as part of his permanent equipment in professional NHL hockey.
Plante was exciting to watch as he developed the "roving goalie" style who would go behind the net and in the corners to play pucks.
When the Montreal Canadians won five straight Stanley cups (1956-1960), coincidentally Plante won the Vezina Trophy for top goaltender five times!
In 1962, he won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player.
One test of his remarkable play was that after being "retired" for three years, he was talked into coming back to play for
the St. Louis Blues; at 40 years old, he and his "co-goalie", Glenn Hall, teamed up to win the Vezina trophy.
Playing a total of 112 playoff games, Plante attained an outstanding goals-against average of only 2.17 goals per game.
Jacques Plante was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976.
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