From: mattb@ctron.com (Matthew E. Brown)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey
Subject: Re: more goalie questions
Date: 26 Jan 93 15:42:18 GMT
Reply-To: mattb@hawk.samsung.com (Matthew E. Brown)
Organization: Cabletron Systems INc.

Allan Caldwell8102@mtroyal.ab.ca writes:
>smith@phobos.cira.colostate.edu writes:
>> I was also wondering which goaltender was the first to wear a
>> mask of any kind, in which year? I remember Cheevers got a great 
>> deal of notarity for his "scar-stiches" mask, but I don't believe
>> he was actually the first to wear one in the NHL. 
>
>Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens was the first to ever wear a mask in
>the NHL. It was sometime in the 50's and Plante was hit flush in the face with
>a slapshot off the stick of Andy Bathgate of the Rangers. Plante was the only
>goalie the Canadiens had (teams only dressed one goalie in those days) and
>after being stitched up he returned to finish the game wearing a crude 
>fiberglass mask that he had been toying with in practice. You can see this mask
>in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. 
>
I answered this before from memory, but now I can give names and places.

quoted from The Lively World of Hockey: An Intimate History of the National
Hockey League, 1917-1968.  Signet, 1968 (Original title: 50 Years of Hockey)

p. 47

(In Summary of 1929-1930 Season)
"This was the season in which the first face mask appeared in the N.H.L
Clint Benedict of Ottawa suffered a broken nose when one of Howie Morenz's
shots hit him in the face. In the next game he appeared wearing a crude
face mask and set a precedent for the major league."

I said Benedict played for the Montreal Maroons. He did, but not in this 
year. Also, the last phrase seems to imply that masks had been worn in
lower levels of hockey prior to this. Note that Clint's mask was to cover
an injury, not prevent one. So in that respect, Jaques Plante was the
originator of a goalie mask worn throughout the season to prevent injury:

p. 131

(In Summary of 1959-1960 Season
"Big news among goalies was Jacques Plante's decision to wear a face
mask of his own design.  Coach Toe Blake was at first dubious and then
disenchanted with the decision. Lorne Worsley candidly stated that he'd
never cover his face.  In January, after observing Plant over half the
the schedule, Terry Sawchuk figured the mask wouldn't last. "I wouldn't want
to wear one regularly," he stated.  Using the best possible means of 
squashing all the doubters, Plante won the Vezina Trophy."

This is an old book, but it does give a decent year-by-year account of
the league up until the first year of 12 team hockey in 67. The writing
seems archaic, so that is either a plus or minus, depending upon how
much "style of the times" you like when reading. 

One thing it does, though, along with this year's re-entry of Ottawa
into the NHL, is dispel the notion of the "original six". For example,
in 1927-27, the NHL looked like this:

Canadian Division                       American Division
----------------------------------------------------------------
Toronto St. Patricks (Maple Leafs)      Boston Bruins
Ottawa Senators                         New York Rangers
New York Americans                      Pittsburgh Pirates
Montreal Maroons                        Chicago Black Hawks
Montreal Canadiens                      Detroit Cougars

(the "Canadian" divisions was so called because of the majority of teams
being based in Canada, The Americans were the Hamilton Tigers for 2 years
and before that the Quebec Bulldogs, hence their Canadianization.)

Actually, this was the season that Conn Smythe bought the Toronto team
and changed the name to the MAple Leafs just before the season started.

Matt
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey