As I continue my hockey heritage series, I am remembering one of the best goalies of all time, a true Canadian. I am talking about Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante. Plante's first real season was 1952-53 with the Canadiens. He had a stellar career with the Habs from 1953 to 1963. 

The Canadiens won five straight Stanley Cups with 5 Vezina trophies (Best goalie in the NHL). He won his sixth in 1961-1962 and his seventh in 1968-1969. He was almost 40 when he won that seventh Vezina. In those days, goalies played every game. Plante usually played between 60 and 70 games. The regular season was 70 games. Here is a scary stat: at 41 years old, he had 1.89 goals against, which is incredible for a goalie in his prime, let alone a goalie who is 41 years old. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy (Most Valuable Player) in the 1961-1962 season, along with his seventh Vezina. 

Plante was traded to the Rangers along with Phil Goyette and Don Marshall in exchange for Gump Worsley, Dave Balon, Leon Rochefort, and Len Ronson. I was only one year old, so I do not remember it. But it was a considerable trade. He also played for the Blues, Leafs, and Boston Bruins. He ended his career in the WHA with the Edmonton Oilers.

Plante's most outstanding achievement was not necessarily stopping the puck. On November 1st, 1959, after getting his nose broken, Plante put his mask on, making him a pioneer of the goalie mask. Can you imagine the NHL without the goalie mask? We owe a lot to Plante. What was remarkable was that he came back in the same game with a broken nose. 

Sadly, we lost Plante too early, at the age of 57. He was a gentleman on and off the ice, a character of the game. Plante was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. My biggest memory of Plante is when he was traded to Boston from the Leafs. I was just getting to like him as an ex-Hab player; getting used to him was hard. I was a Leafs fan who hated the Habs :). 

Randy 

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Jacques Plante goalie mask |Source=[http://www.flickr.com/photos/48913243@N00/4895303490/ Jacques Plante goalie mask] * Uploaded by Skeezix1000