Jacques Plante

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Nickname	Jake the Snake
Height Weight	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (80 kg)
Pro Clubs	Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers St. Louis Blues Toronto Maple Leafs Boston Bruins Edmonton Oilers (WHA)
Nationality	Canada
Born	January 17, 1929, Shawinigan Falls, PQ, CAN
Died	February 27, 1986, Sierre, Switzerland
Pro Career	1952 – 1975
Hall of Fame	1978

Joseph Jacques Omer "Jake the Snake" Plante (born January 17, 1929 in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec; died February 27, 1986 in Sierre, Switzerland) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender.

Contents 1 Assessments and contributions 2 Playing career 3 WHA career, retirement and death 4 Career achievements and honours 5 Career statistics 5.1 Regular season 5.2 Post season 6 Quotes 7 External links

[edit] Assessments and contributions

Jacques Plante began playing in the NHL in 1952 for the Montreal Canadiens, where he became well known and played the majority of his career. He was a flamboyant, popular player, known for raising his arms high over his head in a "V" victory salute when his team won a key game.

Despite chronic asthma, Plante was one of the greatest goalies of all time, and his contributions to playing the position of goaltender are beyond those of any other individual. Plante was the first goalie to skate behind the net to stop the puck. He also was the first to raise his arm on an icing call to let his defencemen know what was happening. He perfected a stand-up, positional style, cutting down the angles. Finally, he was a pioneer of stickhandling and headmanning the puck; before his time, goaltenders passively stood in the net and simply deflected pucks to defencemen or backchecking forwards. He was the first goaltender to write a how-to book ("Step by Step Hockey Goaltending").

His most enduring contribution to the game, however, occurred as a result of an incident on November 1, 1959. He was hit in the face by a shot from New York Rangers player Andy Bathgate, needing to go to the dressing room for stitches. When he returned, he was wearing a crude goalie mask. His coach, Toe Blake, was livid, but he had no other goalie to call upon and Plante refused to return to the goal unless he kept the mask. Blake agreed on the condition that Plante discard the mask when the cut healed. Only Camille Henry beat him in that game, which the Canadiens won 3-1. In the ensuing days Plante refused to discard the mask, and as the Canadiens continued to win, Blake became less obstinate. The winning streak stretched to 18 games. Plante didn't wear the mask, at Blake's request, against Detroit on March 8, 1960. The Canadiens lost 3-0, and the mask returned for good the next night. Plante subsequently designed his own mask and masks for other goalies. Although Plante was not the first NHL goalie known to wear a facemask (Montreal Maroons goaltender Clint Benedict had done so thirty years before), Plante introduced the mask as everyday equipment, which continues to this day.

[edit] Playing career

After a minor league apprenticeship with the senior league Montreal Royals and the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League, Plante was called up to the Canadiens for good towards the end of the 1954 season, wrestling the starting job away from incumbent Gerry McNeil while recording a spectacular 1.59 goals against average. He went on to record two shutouts in the playoffs (in which the Habs lost the Cup to the Detroit Red Wings) and had the starting job for good the next season. The following year Plante backstopped the Canadiens to the first of an unequalled five straight Stanley Cup championships, as well as the first of five straight Vezina trophies as the league's leading goaltender, a mark that has likewise never been equalled. He punctuated the streak with winning the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP in 1962, the last time any goaltender would win it until Dominik Hasek did in 1997.

By the 1963 season, however, the pressures of playing in Montreal had worn heavily on the high-strung Plante. He nonetheless led the league in shutouts and missed leading the league in goals against by a whisker, but the high-flying Canadiens fell to third place that year, and management felt the need for a change. He was duly traded in the off-season to the New York Rangers with Phil Goyette and Don Marshall for Dave Balon, Leon Rochefort, Len Ronson and Gump Worsley. Plante played another two lackluster seasons for the hapless Rangers - relegated to backup duty behind longtime minor leaguer Marcel Paille in 1965 - before announcing his retirement at the age of 36. His retirement caught general manager Emile Francis off guard, and Francis was angry. He'd just obtained Ed Giacomin from Providence of the AHL and counted on Plante to guide the rookie during the 1965-66 season. But Plante stood firm. The Rangers got some consolation when they drafted Don Simmons in the intra-league draft.

During his absence from the NHL, in December 1965, Plante was asked to play goal for the Montreal Junior Canadiens of the major junior Quebec league in an exhibition game against a touring Soviet hockey team. The junior leaguers beat the Soviets 2-1, in a game that Plante considered one of the highlights of his career.

In September of 1967, however, he was lured back to the NHL by former Canadiens teammate Bert Olmstead, who had been named coach and general manager of the expansion California Seals. Plante signed a training camp tryout contract with the Seals, but his reserve rights still belonged to the Rangers and no reasonable deal for his services could be made. He left the Seals' training camp and returned to his retirement.

But another chance to play was offered to him by the St. Louis Blues, who had claimed him off the Rangers' roster in the Intra-League Draft on June 8th, 1968. His return to the NHL was successful, as he and teammate Glenn Hall backstopped the Blues to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1969. They shared the Vezina Trophy as best goaltenders in the league that season.

He played another splendid season in St. Louis, but with up-and-coming goalie Ernie Wakely on the team, the aged Plante was sold to the Toronto Maple Leafs in May, 1970. In his first season with the Leafs he proved he was not past it by leading the league with the third lowest goals against average (1.88) of the entire expansion era (up to the last few seasons) and was named a league Second Team All-Star.

His third season was not as successful, and he was traded again near the end of the 1973 season for his last hurrah to the Boston Bruins for goaltender Ed Johnston and a first round draft choice. He recorded a long-remembered shutout in his Bruins debut against Chicago and remained very effective in eight regular-season games, but was ineffective in two playoff games, and at age 44, Plante's long NHL career was finally over. Only Hall and Frank Brimsek had been named to more season-ending All-Star teams.

Plante also holds the dubious distinction of having his name misspelled the most times on the Stanley Cup. Of the six times he won it, five have incorrect spellings. Errors have included "Plant", "Jack", and "Jaques".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] WHA career, retirement and death

He joined the rival World Hockey Association in 1973 as general manager of the Quebec Nordiques, but lasted only one season there before being lured out of retirement yet again to play for the WHA team which held his playing rights: the Edmonton Oilers. He played one season for the Oilers before retiring for the third and final time at age 46, after which time he served as a goaltending coach and European scout for the Philadelphia Flyers and later the St Louis Blues. His WHA playing career made him the oldest goaltender in professional hockey history.

Jacques Plante died of a heart attack in Switzerland, where he had been living for a number of years. He was already dying of stomach cancer. He was 57 years old. The main arena in Shawinigan was renamed Arena Jacques Plante in his honour after his death.

Plante was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. His jersey number (#1) was retired by the Montreal Canadiens on October 7, 1995.

The Jacques Plante Memorial Trophy is awarded to the top goaltender in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

[edit] Career achievements and honours

• Retired second in league history in goaltender wins (currently third), fourth in shutouts and fourth in games played (currently eighth).
• Won the Vezina Memorial Trophy as top goaltender of the Quebec Senior Hockey League in 1953.
• Won the NHL's Vezina Trophy in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1969.
• Led the league in goals against average in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1969 and 1971, the most number of times of any goaltender.
• Was named a NHL First Team All-Star in 1956, 1959, 1962.
• Was named a NHL Second Team All-Star in 1957, 1958, 1960 and 1971.
• Won the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1962.
• Played in eight All-Star games in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1969 and 1970.
• In 1998, he was ranked number 13 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the second-ranked goalie behind Terry Sawchuk.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1947-48	Montreal Royals	QSHL		2	0	0	2	120	5	0	2.50
1947-48	Quebec	QSHL		31	18	11	1	1840	87	2	2.84	64	42	12	10	3840	119	7	1.86
1956-57	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		61	31	18	12	3660	123	9	2.02
1957-58	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		57	34	14	8	3386	119	9	2.11
1958-59	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		67	38	16	13	4000	144	9	2.16
1959-60	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		69	40	17	12	4140	175	3	2.54
1960-61	Montreal Royals	EPHL		8	3	4	1	480	24	0	3.00
1960-61	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		40	22	11	7	2400	112	2	2.80
1961-62	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		70	42	14	14	4200	166	4	2.37
1962-63	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		56	22	14	19	3320	138	5	2.49
1963-64	New York Rangers	NHL		65	22	36	7	3900	220	3	3.38
1964-65	New York Rangers	NHL		33	10	17	5	1938	109	2	3.37
1964-65	Baltimore Clippers	AHL		17	6	9	1	1018	51	1	3.01
1968-69	St. Louis Blues	NHL		37	18	12	6	2139	70	5	1.96
1969-70	St. Louis Blues	NHL		32	18	9	5	1839	67	5	2.19
1970-71	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		40	24	11	4	2329	73	4	1.88
1971-72	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		34	16	13	5	1965	86	2	2.63
1972-73	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		32	8	14	6	1717	87	1	3.04
1972-73	Boston Bruins	NHL		8	7	1	0	480	16	2	2.00
1974-75	Edmonton Oilers	WHA		31	15	14	1	1592	88	1	3.32
NHL CAREER TOTALS				837	434	247	146	49533	1965	82	2.38
WHA CAREER TOTALS				31	15	14	1	1592	88	1	3.32

[edit] Post season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1947-48	Quebec	QJHL		9	4	5	0	545	28	2	3.08
1948-49	Quebec	QJHL		13	7	6	0	790	43	0	3.27
1949-50	Montreal Royals	QSHL		6	??	??	??	360	20	0	3.33
1950-51	Montreal Royals	QSHL		7	2	5	0	420	26	1	3.71
1951-52	Montreal Royals	QSHL		7	3	4	0	420	21	1	3.00
1952-53	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		4	3	1	0	240	7	1	1.75
1953-54	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		8	5	3	0	480	15	2	1.88
1954-55	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		12	6	4	0	640	30	0	2.81
1955-56	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		10	8	2	0	600	18	2	1.80
1956-57	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		10	8	2	0	616	18	1	1.75
1957-58	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		10	8	2	0	618	20	1	1.94
1958-59	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		11	8	3	0	670	28	0	2.51
1959-60	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		8	8	0	0	489	11	3	1.35
1960-61	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		6	2	4	0	412	16	0	2.33
1961-62	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		6	2	4	0	360	19	0	3.17
1962-63	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		5	1	4	0	300	14	0	2.80
1964-65	Baltimore Clippers	AHL		5	2	3	0	315	14	1	2.67
1968-69	St. Louis Blues	NHL		10	8	2	0	589	14	3	1.43
1969-70	St. Louis Blues	NHL		6	4	1	0	324	8	1	1.48
1970-71	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		3	0	2	0	134	7	0	3.13
1971-72	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		1	0	1	0	60	5	0	5.00
1972-73	Boston Bruins	NHL		2	0	2	0	120	10	0	5.00
NHL CAREER TOTALS				112	71	37	0	6652	240	14	2.16

[edit] Quotes

"Suppose you were working at your job one day, and you made a little mistake. Then all of a sudden a red light went on over your desk, and fifteen thousand people stood up and yelled at you that you sucked?" -Jacques Plante

"There are a lot of very good goalies, there are even a fair number of great goalies. But there aren't many important goalies. And Jacques Plante was an important goalie" Ken Dryden from ESPN Classic's SportsCentury series.

[edit] External links

• Plante's statistics at hockeydb.com
• Plante's page on the Hockey Hall of Fame website
• Interview with Plante
• Historica Minutes TV Commercial Canadian Heritage

Preceded by Bernie Geoffrion	Winner of the Hart Trophy 1962	Succeeded by Gordie Howe
Preceded by Terry Sawchuck	Winner of the Vezina Trophy 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960	Succeeded by Johnny Bower
Preceded by Johnny Bower	Winner of the Vezina Trophy 1962	Succeeded by Glenn Hall
Preceded by Rogatien Vachon and Gump Worsley	Winner of the Vezina Trophy with Glenn Hall 1969	Succeeded by Tony Esposito