Jacques Plante

Jacques "Jake the Snake" Plante was born on January 17, 1929 in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Canada. He played his minor hockey with the Montreal Canadiens farm system nad got his first shot at NHL play in the 1952-53 season. Plante made another brief stint with the club before becoming the starting goaltender of the Habs in the 1954-55 season. From 1955 to 1960, Plante won five consecutive Vezina trophies as the best goaltender in the National Hockey League, racking up 185 wins along the way. In 1962 Plante would win his sixth Vezina trophy along with the Hart trophy as most valuable player in the NHL. In 1963 he was traded to the New York Rangers for Gump Worsley. Jacques endured through two tough seasons in New York before retiring in 1965. His retirement though would not last that long as the expansion St Louis Blues would come knocking in 1968. Plante joined the Blues for two seasons, sharing a Vezina trophy with fellow goaltending great Glenn Hall. He would go on to make stops in Toronto and Boston with the Maple Leafs and Bruins, before playing for the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association.

Jacques Plante was one of the most influential goaltenders in NHL history. One of his early innovations was moving out of the crease to handle the puck behind the net for his defensemen on shoot-ins. More importantly he was the first goalie to wear a mask. Plante used to wear the mask during practice, but in a game against the New York Rangers in 1959 he tripped Andy Bathgate, who retaliated by deliberately shooting a puck at Plante's face. He was badly cut and broke his cheekbone, but Plante returned to the game and made history by playing with a face mask. Off the ice, Plante was known to be a little eccentric and a loner. He did not believe in socializing with many people, including his teammates. But his play on the ice left a mark on every goalie who ever put on a pair of pads. Plante was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978 and passed away in 1986 of stomach cancer in Switzerland.

Here are Jacques Plante's NHL career statistics;

Year     Team                GP   Min   GA   W   L   T  SO   AVG             
1952-53 Montreal Canadiens    3   180    4   2   0   1   0  1.33 
1953-54 Montreal Canadiens   17  1020   27   7   5   5   5  1.59
1954-55 Montreal Canadiens   52  3080  110  31  13   7   5  2.17
1955-56 Montreal Canadiens   64  3840  119  42  12  10   7  1.86
1956-57 Montreal Canadiens   61  3660  123  31  18  12   9  2.00
1957-58 Montreal Canadiens   57  3386  119  34  14   8   9  2.11
1958-59 Montreal Canadiens   67  4000  144  38  16  13   9  2.16
1959-60 Montreal Canadiens   69  4140  175  40  17  12   3  2.54
1960-61 Montreal Canadiens   40  2400  112  22  11   7   2  2.80
1961-62 Montreal Canadiens   70  4200  166  42  14  14   4  2.37
1962-63 Montreal Canadiens   56  3320  138  22  14  19   5  2.49
1963-64 New York Rangers     65  3900  220  22  36   7   3  3.38
1964-65 New York Rangers     33  1938  109  10  17   5   2  3.37
1968-69 St. Louis Blues      37  2139   70  18  12   6   5  1.96
1969-70 St. Louis Blues      32  1839   67  18   9   5   5  2.19
1970-71 Toronto Maple Leafs  40  2329   73  24  11   4   4  1.88
1971-72 Toronto Maple Leafs  34  1965   86  16  13   5   2  2.63
1972-73 Toronto Maple Leafs  32  1717   87   8  14   6   1  3.04
1972-73 Boston Bruins         8   480   16   7   1   0   2  2.00
NHL Totals                  837 49533  1965 434  247 146 82 2.38



Trophies
George Vezina Trophy - 7 (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1969)
Hart Memorial Trophy - 1 (1962)


Championships
Stanley Cup - 5 (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960)

Team Pages:
Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins

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