Jacques Plante facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jacques Plante
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1978
Plante with the Quebec Citadelles in 1948
Born	(1929-01-17)January 17, 1929 Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, Quebec, Canada
Died	February 27, 1986(1986-02-27) (aged 57) Geneva, Switzerland
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers St. Louis Blues Toronto Maple Leafs Boston Bruins Edmonton Oilers
Playing career	1947–1965 1968–1973 1974–1975

Joseph Jacques Omer Plante (born January 17, 1929 – died February 27, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He played hockey from 1947 to 1975. Many people think he was one of the most important innovators in hockey history.

He played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1953 to 1963. During that time, his team won the Stanley Cup six times. This included an amazing five wins in a row! In 2017, Jacques Plante was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" ever.

Plante stopped playing in 1965. But he was convinced to come back to the National Hockey League (NHL). He joined the St. Louis Blues in 1968. Later, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1970. In 1973, he moved to the Boston Bruins. He also coached and managed the Quebec Nordiques in 1973–74. He played his last professional games for the Edmonton Oilers in 1974–75.

Jacques Plante was the first NHL goalie to regularly wear a goaltender mask during games. He worked with experts to create and test many mask designs. He even helped create the mask/helmet combo used today. Plante was also the first NHL goalie to often leave his crease. He would play the puck to help his defencemen. He also gave instructions to his teammates from behind the play.

Plante was added to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1985, he was chosen as the goalie for the Canadiens' "dream team." His jersey, number 1, was retired by the Montreal Canadiens. This means no other player on that team can wear it. Plante is seventh among NHL goalies for career wins, with 437 victories.

How Jacques Plante Started in Hockey

Jacques Plante in the 1944–1945 season, aged 15 or 16

Jacques Plante was born on a farm in Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, Quebec. He was the first of 11 children. His family later moved to Shawinigan Falls. His father worked in a factory there.

In 1932, Jacques started playing hockey. He didn't have skates and used a tennis ball. His father carved him a goalie stick from a tree root. When he was five, Jacques broke his hand. This injury affected his playing style for years. He had surgery later to fix it.

Plante also had asthma from a young age. This made it hard for him to skate for long periods. So, he chose to play as a goaltender. For Christmas in 1936, he got his first real goalie stick. His father made his first pads by stuffing potato sacks. He reinforced them with wooden panels.

Jacques played hockey outdoors in the cold Quebec winters. His mother taught him how to knit tuques (warm hats). He kept knitting throughout his life. He even wore his hand-knitted tuques during games until he joined the NHL.

Plante first played organized hockey at age 12. He was watching his school team practice. The coach got mad at the goalie and sent him off the ice. Jacques asked to play instead. The coach let him, and Jacques quickly showed he was good. He stayed on as the team's main goalie, even though other players were older.

Two years later, Plante was playing for five different teams. These included a local factory team and teams in different age groups. He asked the factory team's coach for a salary. His father told him other players were getting paid. The coach paid Jacques 50 cents per game to keep him.

After this, Plante got many offers from other teams. He was offered $80 a week to play in England. He also got a similar offer from the Providence Reds in the American Hockey League. But his parents wanted him to finish high school. He graduated with top grades in 1947.

After graduating, he worked as a clerk in a factory. A few weeks later, the Quebec Citadels offered him $85 a week to play. He accepted, and this was the start of his professional career. His nickname was "Jake the Snake."

Jacques Plante's Professional Hockey Journey

Playing in the Minor Leagues

Plante, seated in front in tuque, with the Quebec Citadelles

Jacques joined the Quebec Citadelles in 1947. While playing for Quebec, Plante started to play the puck outside his net. He did this because his team's defense was not playing well. Fans liked his unusual style, but his managers were angry. They thought a goalie should stay in the net.

Plante believed that if he controlled the puck, opponents couldn't shoot it at him. This is now a common move for goalies. That same season, the Citadelles beat the Montreal Junior Canadiens. Plante was named the most valuable player on his team. The Montreal Canadiens' general manager, Frank J. Selke, wanted Plante to join his team.

In 1948, Plante was invited to the Canadiens' training camp. On August 17, 1949, Selke offered Plante a contract. Plante played for Montreal's team, the Royal Montreal Hockey Club. He earned $4,500 for the season. He also got an extra $500 for practicing with the Canadiens.

In 1949, he married Jacqueline Gagné. They had two sons, Michel and Richard.

In January 1953, Plante was called up to play for the Canadiens. Their main goalie, Gerry McNeil, had broken his jaw. Plante played three games and caused some talk. Coach Dick Irvin, Sr. did not like players to stand out. Plante always wore one of his knitted tuques while playing. After an argument with Irvin, all of Plante's tuques disappeared from the locker room. Even without his good luck charm, Plante only let in four goals in his three games, all of which were wins.

Later in the 1952–53 NHL season, Plante played in the playoffs. He won his first playoff game with a shutout. Montreal won that series and the Stanley Cup. Plante's name was engraved on the Cup for the first time.

At the start of 1953, McNeil was still the Canadiens' starting goalie. Selke sent Plante to the Buffalo Bisons to help fans in the United States get to know him. Plante was very successful there.

Playing for the Montreal Canadiens

By the end of the 1953–54 NHL season, Plante was a well-known NHL player. In the spring of 1954, he had surgery on his left hand. He had broken it as a child, and it didn't heal right. He couldn't move his hand well enough to catch high shots. The operation was successful.

On February 12, 1954, Plante became the Canadiens' main goalie. He did not return to the minor leagues for many years. On March 13, 1955, a fight on the ice led to the suspension of Maurice Richard. He was Montreal's top scorer. Four nights later, Plante saw the riot that followed a game in Montreal. The Canadiens later lost to the Detroit Red Wings in the finals.

For the 1955-56 NHL season, Plante was clearly the Canadiens' starting goalie. Montreal won the Stanley Cup that season. This was the first of five Stanley Cup wins in a row for the team. The next season, Plante missed most of November. This was due to his chronic bronchitis, caused by his asthma.

During the 1957–58 NHL season, the Canadiens won their third straight Stanley Cup. Plante's asthma was getting worse. He also had a concussion near the end of the season. He missed three playoff games. In the sixth game of the Stanley Cup finals, Plante felt dizzy from his asthma. He collapsed after his teammate Doug Harvey scored the winning goal. The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup again at the end of the 1958-59 NHL season.

The Goalie Mask Story

Plante's original fibreglass mask

During the 1959-60 NHL season, Plante wore a goaltender mask for the first time in a regular game. He had used his mask in practice since 1956. But head coach Toe Blake thought it would block his vision. Blake would not let him wear it during games.

However, on November 1, 1959, Plante's nose was broken. He was hit by a shot from Andy Bathgate during a game against the New York Rangers. He went to the dressing room for stitches. When he came back, he was wearing the homemade mask he used in practice. Blake was very angry. But he had no other goalie. Plante refused to play unless he wore the mask. Blake agreed, but only if Plante took it off when his nose healed.

The Canadiens won that game 3–1. In the next few days, Plante refused to take off the mask. As the Canadiens kept winning, Blake complained less. Their unbeaten streak reached 18 games. Plante did not wear the mask on March 8, 1960, against Detroit. The Canadiens lost 3–0. The mask returned for good the next night. That year, the Canadiens won their fifth straight Stanley Cup. This was Plante's last Stanley Cup win.

Plante later designed masks for himself and other goalies. He wasn't the first NHL goalie to wear a mask. Montreal Maroons' Clint Benedict wore a leather mask in 1930. But Plante made the mask a regular piece of equipment. Now, it is required equipment for goalies.

Moving Teams and First Retirement

Plante had bad pain in his left knee during the 1960–61 NHL season. He was sent to the minor league Montreal Royals. Doctors found torn cartilage in his knee. He had surgery in the summer of 1961. The next season, Plante won the Hart Memorial Trophy. He also won the Vezina Trophy for the sixth time.

The 1962–63 NHL season was difficult for Plante. His asthma got worse, and he missed much of the early season. His relationship with coach Toe Blake also got worse. Plante claimed that NHL net sizes were not all the same. This gave an advantage to goalies on certain teams. His claim was later found to be true.

After the Canadiens lost in the first playoff round for the third year in a row in 1963, fans wanted changes. The tension between Plante and Blake grew. Blake said that either he or Plante had to go for the next season. On June 4, 1963, Plante was traded to the New York Rangers. He played for the Rangers for one full season and part of another. He retired in 1965 while playing for the Rangers' minor league team, the Baltimore Clippers. His wife was sick, and he needed surgery on his right knee.

After retiring, Plante worked as a sales representative for Molson. But he stayed involved in hockey. In 1965, Scotty Bowman asked Plante to play for the Montreal Jr. Canadiens. They were playing against the Soviet National Team. Plante agreed to represent his country. The Canadiens won 2–1, and Plante was named the best player of the game.

Coming Back to Professional Hockey

At the start of the 1967-68 NHL season, Plante got a call from his old teammate Bert Olmstead. He asked Plante to help coach the new Oakland Seals. Plante coached by showing them how to play. After three weeks, he went home to Montreal. Plante also played an exhibition game with the Seals. People started to wonder if Plante would make a comeback.

In June 1968, the St. Louis Blues chose Plante in a special draft. He signed a contract for $35,000 for the 1968-69 NHL season. In his first season with the Blues, Plante shared goalie duties with Glenn Hall. He won the Vezina Trophy that season for the seventh time. This broke Bill Durnan's record.

While playing for the Blues in the 1969–70 playoffs, Plante was hit in the forehead. A shot from Fred Stanfield hit him, breaking his mask and knocking him out. The first thing Plante said in the hospital was that the mask saved his life. That game was his last for the Blues.

In the summer of 1970, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had the lowest goals against average (GAA) in the NHL during his first season with the Maple Leafs. He also tied a Leafs record by winning 9 games in a row. At the end of the season, he was named to the NHL's second All-Star team. He played for the Leafs until he was traded to the Boston Bruins late in the 1972–73 season. He had a shutout in his first game for the Bruins. He played eight regular season and two playoff games for the Bruins. These were his last games in the NHL.

Plante signed a $1 million, 10-year contract to coach and manage the Quebec Nordiques in 1973. This team was part of the World Hockey Association. He was not happy with his or the team's performance. He resigned at the end of the 1973–74 season.

Coming out of retirement again, Plante played 31 games for the Edmonton Oilers in the 1974–75 season. Plante retired during the Oilers' training camp in 1975–76. This was after he received sad news that his youngest son had died.

Retirement and Legacy

Plante finally retired from hockey in 1975. He moved to Switzerland with his second wife, Raymonde Udrisard. But he still worked in North American hockey. He was an analyst, adviser, and goalie trainer. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978.

In the fall of 1985, Plante was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He died in a Geneva hospital in February 1986. He was buried in Sierre, Switzerland. After his funeral, his coffin was carried under an arch of hockey sticks. Young hockey players from Quebec, visiting Switzerland, held the sticks high.

Plante's #1 jersey exhibited at the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010

Plante was one of the first goalies to skate behind the net to stop the puck. He was also one of the first to raise his arm on an icing call. This let his defencemen know what was happening. He developed a style where he stood up and cut down angles. He was one of the first goalies to write a "how-to" book about playing the position. He was a pioneer in handling the puck with his stick. Before him, goalies mostly stayed in the net and just deflected pucks.

Plante was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. He was also added to the Quebec Sports Pantheon in 1994. His number 1 jersey was retired by the Montreal Canadiens in 1995. The Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy was created in his honor. It is given to the best goalie in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Jacques Plante Trophy was created in Switzerland after his death. It is given yearly to the best Swiss goalie. The main arena in Shawinigan, his hometown, was renamed Aréna Jacques Plante.

Sports Illustrated magazine chose Plante for its 1991 all-time All-Star team. He was the backup goalie to Vladislav Tretiak. His injury and the mask he wore were shown in a Canadian Heritage Minute series.

Awards and Honours

NHL

^†Shared with Glenn Hall.

Other

See Also

• Goaltender mask
• History of the National Hockey League (1942–1967)
• History of the Montreal Canadiens
• List of NHL goaltenders with 300 wins