# Jacques Plante
**Jacques Plante** (Joseph Jacques Omer Plante; January 17, 1929 – February 26, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who became the first NHL goaltender to wear a mask regularly in games, doing so on November 1, 1959, and who won six Stanley Cups and seven Vezina Trophies over an 18-season career.[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) • [2](https://halloffamers.sportshall.ca/?jacques_plante=&language=EN)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | January 17, 1929, Shawinigan Falls, Quebec; February 26, 1986[2](https://halloffamers.sportshall.ca/?jacques_plante=&language=EN) |
| Mask debut | November 1, 1959, at Madison Square Garden, after a shot from Andy Bathgate cut his face; the Canadiens won 3-1[3](https://www.nhl.com/news/this-date-in-nhl-history-november-1-283218672) |
| Montreal dynasty | Five consecutive Stanley Cups and five consecutive Vezina Trophies, 1955-56 through 1959-60[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) |
| Career totals | 837 games, 437 wins, 246 losses, 145 ties, 2.38 goals-against average; 82 shutouts[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) • [2](https://halloffamers.sportshall.ca/?jacques_plante=&language=EN) |
| Major awards | Seven Vezina Trophies, six Stanley Cups, Hart Trophy (league MVP) in 1961-62[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) |
| Late career | Shared the 1968-69 Vezina with Glenn Hall in St. Louis; led the NHL with a .944 save percentage for Toronto in 1970-71 at age 42[4](https://www.nhl.com/news/montreal-canadiens-goaltenders-carey-price-jacques-plante-similarities-318718946) |
| Honors | Hockey Hall of Fame, inducted 1978; Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, inducted 1981[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) • [2](https://halloffamers.sportshall.ca/?jacques_plante=&language=EN) |
## Early life and rise with Montreal
Plante was born in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, the oldest of eleven children of Xavier and Palma Plante.[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) • [5](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/plante-jacques) He took up goaltending by chance as a middle-schooler, volunteering to enter the net after the team's goalie left, and never left the position.[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) He played for the Quebec Citadelles juniors and the Montreal Royals of the Quebec Senior Hockey League before a short apprenticeship with the [Buffalo Bisons](https://www.edgepedia.org/buffalo-bisons) of the [American Hockey League](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-hockey-league) in 1952-53.[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320)
He reached the [Montreal Canadiens](https://www.edgepedia.org/montreal-canadiens) in 1953 as a backup to Gerry McNeil and started Game 6 of the semifinals against Chicago with Montreal trailing the series 3-2; he shut out the Black Hawks 3-0 and won Game 7, and Montreal took the [Stanley Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-cup) that spring.[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) By 1954-55 he had taken the starting job, and in 1955-56 he led the league with a 1.86 goals-against average.[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) • [4](https://www.nhl.com/news/montreal-canadiens-goaltenders-carey-price-jacques-plante-similarities-318718946) From 1955-56 to 1959-60 he won five straight Vezina Trophies, and Montreal won the Stanley Cup in each of those five seasons.[4](https://www.nhl.com/news/montreal-canadiens-goaltenders-carey-price-jacques-plante-similarities-318718946)
## The mask, November 1, 1959
Plante had begun experimenting with face protection as a junior player and, after injuries including a broken cheekbone and an operation for sinusitis, wore a mask in practices for roughly three years before his game debut.[7](https://www.nhl.com/news/jacques-plante-becomes-first-goalie-to-wear-mask-290431748) • [1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) The fiberglass mask he wore in games was made with Bill Burchmore, a sales and promotion manager at Fibreglas Canada, who ladled the compound over a form of Plante's face.[6](https://www.nhl.com/news/jacques-plante-mask-mold-in-hockey-hall-of-fame-305427502)
**The injury that forced the issue.** Early in a game at [Madison Square Garden](https://www.edgepedia.org/madison-square-garden) on November 1, 1959, 3:06 into the first period, Rangers forward Andy Bathgate fired a rising backhand that struck Plante in the face, opening a cut from the corner of his mouth up through his nostril. Plante left the ice for about 20 minutes of stitching.[3](https://www.nhl.com/news/this-date-in-nhl-history-november-1-283218672) • [1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) Bathgate later said the shot was deliberate retaliation for slashes Plante had given him in earlier games: "I was aiming for his head."[7](https://www.nhl.com/news/jacques-plante-becomes-first-goalie-to-wear-mask-290431748)
NHL teams of that era did not travel with backup goaltenders, so coach Toe Blake faced a choice between a masked Plante and a borrowed house goalie. Plante told Blake he would return only if he could wear the mask; Blake, who considered the mask a sign of weakness and feared it would impair Plante's vision, relented with "OK. Do it."[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) • [7](https://www.nhl.com/news/jacques-plante-becomes-first-goalie-to-wear-mask-290431748) Montreal won the game 3-1, and Plante insisted he would never play without the mask again.[3](https://www.nhl.com/news/this-date-in-nhl-history-november-1-283218672)
The results settled the argument. Plante was in goal for an 11-game unbeaten run (10-0-1) after the debut, and when Blake later persuaded him to try one game without the mask, Montreal lost badly and Plante returned to the mask permanently.[7](https://www.nhl.com/news/jacques-plante-becomes-first-goalie-to-wear-mask-290431748) That season Montreal won a record fifth consecutive Stanley Cup and Plante won his fifth straight [Vezina Trophy](https://www.edgepedia.org/vezina-trophy).[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320)
He was not the first goaltender to wear a mask of any kind. Elizabeth Graham of Queen's University wore a fencing mask in 1927, and Clint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons wore a leather mask for a few games around 1930 to protect a broken nose before discarding it. Plante was the first NHL goaltender to wear one for good.[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) Adoption spread gradually: within a few years most goalies wore one, and by the end of the 1973-74 season no bare-faced goalies remained in the NHL.[3](https://www.nhl.com/news/this-date-in-nhl-history-november-1-283218672) Plante continued to develop newer and safer mask designs through the 1960s.[2](https://halloffamers.sportshall.ca/?jacques_plante=&language=EN)
## Goaltending style
Plante changed the position beyond equipment. He routinely came out of his crease to play the puck behind the net and settle it for his defensemen, a practice rarely seen before him. Teammate Dickie Moore credited the habit with changing the course of the Montreal-Detroit rivalry, because opponents could no longer rough up his defensemen with impunity.[4](https://www.nhl.com/news/montreal-canadiens-goaltenders-carey-price-jacques-plante-similarities-318718946) "Possession of the puck is No. 1," Plante said. "That's all I'm doing, getting control until one of my teammates comes along."[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320)
## Later career
Montreal traded Plante to the [New York Rangers](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-rangers) in June 1963, and he stayed about a year and a half before retiring.[2](https://halloffamers.sportshall.ca/?jacques_plante=&language=EN) • [4](https://www.nhl.com/news/montreal-canadiens-goaltenders-carey-price-jacques-plante-similarities-318718946) He returned in 1968 at age 40 to share the [St. Louis Blues](https://www.edgepedia.org/st-louis-blues)' net with Glenn Hall; the pair shared the Vezina Trophy in 1968-69, with Plante allowing 1.96 goals per game, and helped the expansion Blues reach the Stanley Cup Final.[2](https://halloffamers.sportshall.ca/?jacques_plante=&language=EN) • [1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) • [4](https://www.nhl.com/news/montreal-canadiens-goaltenders-carey-price-jacques-plante-similarities-318718946) In 1970-71, as a 42-year-old with the [Toronto Maple Leafs](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-maple-leafs), he led the NHL with a .944 save percentage and mentored a young Bernie Parent; he finished his NHL career with Boston at age 44 and later played in the WHA past his 46th birthday.[4](https://www.nhl.com/news/montreal-canadiens-goaltenders-carey-price-jacques-plante-similarities-318718946) • [2](https://halloffamers.sportshall.ca/?jacques_plante=&language=EN)
## Legacy
Plante's mask became standard equipment, and its consequences are written into the modern rulebook: all goaltenders must wear a mask, teams must dress two goalies for every game, and play is stopped when a goalie's mask comes off.[7](https://www.nhl.com/news/jacques-plante-becomes-first-goalie-to-wear-mask-290431748) He was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in 2017 and entered the [Hockey Hall of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/hockey-hall-of-fame) in 1978, his first year of eligibility.[1](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320) • [8](https://www.notinhalloffame.com/hockey/current-hockey-hall-of-fame-inductees/by-decade-1970s-inductees/1978-hockey-inductees/2626-jacques-plante) His franchise records in Montreal stood for decades; [Carey Price](https://www.edgepedia.org/carey-price) passed his 314 regular-season wins with the Canadiens in 2019 to become the club's winningest goalie.[4](https://www.nhl.com/news/montreal-canadiens-goaltenders-carey-price-jacques-plante-similarities-318718946) "Plante changed the game forever," the hockey author Andrew Podnieks wrote in his 2003 book *Players: The Ultimate A-Z Guide of Everyone Who Has Ever Played in the NHL*.[7](https://www.nhl.com/news/jacques-plante-becomes-first-goalie-to-wear-mask-290431748)
## References
1. [Jacques Plante: 100 Greatest NHL Players, NHL.com (Wayne Coffey, 2017)](https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-100-greatest-players/jacques-plante-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players-284177320)
2. [Jacques Plante, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame](https://halloffamers.sportshall.ca/?jacques_plante=&language=EN)
3. [Nov. 1: Plante debuts mask in NHL game, NHL.com This Date in History (2020)](https://www.nhl.com/news/this-date-in-nhl-history-november-1-283218672)
4. [Price followed Plante as Canadiens icon, NHL.com (Stan Fischler, 2020)](https://www.nhl.com/news/montreal-canadiens-goaltenders-carey-price-jacques-plante-similarities-318718946)
5. [Plante, Jacques, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/plante-jacques)
6. [Plante mask mold finds way to Hockey Hall of Fame, NHL.com (2019)](https://www.nhl.com/news/jacques-plante-mask-mold-in-hockey-hall-of-fame-305427502)
7. [Plante revolutionized hockey by donning mask, NHL.com (Stan Fischler, 2017)](https://www.nhl.com/news/jacques-plante-becomes-first-goalie-to-wear-mask-290431748)
8. [Not in Hall of Fame: Jacques Plante](https://www.notinhalloffame.com/hockey/current-hockey-hall-of-fame-inductees/by-decade-1970s-inductees/1978-hockey-inductees/2626-jacques-plante)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Hockey and remaining team sports › Ice hockey players and personnel › Goaltenders*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license