Jacques Plante.

Jacques Plante. Jacques Plante (1929-1986), Canadian professional ice hockey goalie. In Plante's 18 seasons he won the Vezina Trophy for best goalie in the National Hockey League (NHL) seven times. He was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player (MVP) once, and he was named to the NHL All-Star team seven times. Plante introduced the wearing of protective face masks by professional goalies during games. Born in Mont-Carmel, Québec, Plante suffered from asthma as a child. He began playing hockey when he was young and became a prominent minor league player for the Montréal Royals by 20 years of age. During the 1953 Stanley Cup semifinals the Montréal Canadiens called on Plante to replace goalie Gerry McNeill. Plante allowed just one goal in two games in the series against the Chicago Blackhawks. In the Stanley Cup Finals that year Plante and McNeill shared goaltending duties and the Canadiens won the league title in five games against the Boston Bruins. The following season Plante replaced McNeill as the Canadiens' starting goaltender. Plante was the first NHL goalie to develop the technique of moving away from the goal crease with the puck still in play in order to stop the opposition and aid his own team's efforts. With Plante as the club's regular goalie, the Canadiens won five straight Stanley Cup championships from 1956 to 1960, and he earned the Vezina Trophy in each of those seasons. He led the NHL in shutouts from 1956 to 1958 and in goals-against average from 1956 to 1960 and again in 1962. In 1962 he won both the Vezina Trophy and the Hart Trophy; he was the fourth goalie to be awarded the Hart Trophy. After being injured in the face by a puck during a game in the 1958-59 season and then again during a game in the 1959-60 season, Plante began wearing a molded plastic mask to protect himself. Other goalies wore masks during practice, but Plante was the first to do so during official games. Within a few years masks were standard equipment for all NHL goalies. Traded to the New York Rangers in 1963, Plante retired in 1965 but then signed with the St. Louis Blues in 1967. In the 1967-68 season he led the NHL for the seventh time in goals-against average, with 1.96, and he recorded three shutouts in ten playoff games. He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1970 and led the NHL again with a 1.88 goals-against average. Acquired by the Boston Bruins late in the 1972-73 season, Plante logged two shutouts in eight games. After the 1972-73 season Plante was named head coach and general manager of the Québec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association (WHA). In 1974 he returned to the ice for one final season, playing for the Edmonton Oilers of the WHA. He retired from hockey in 1975 at 45 years of age. His career record included a 2.38 goalsagainst average and 82 shutouts. Plante was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.