Jacques Plante

**Joseph Jacques Omer "Jake the Snake" Plante** (January 17, 1929 – February 27, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He grew up in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, and began to play hockey in 1932. Plante started to play organized hockey at age 12, and his first professional game was at age 18. He played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1953 to 1963; during this time, the team won the Stanley Cup six times, including five wins in a row.

Plante first retired in 1965, but he was asked to come back to the NHL to play for a new team, the St. Louis Blues, in 1968. Plante was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1970, and then to the Boston Bruins in 1973. He joined the World Hockey Association, first as coach and general manager for the Quebec Nordiques in 1973–74. After his time with Quebec was not successful, Plante played goal for the Edmonton Oilers in 1974–75. Plante retired for the last time during training camp in the 1975-76 season.

Plante is considered one of the most important inventors in ice hockey. Most importantly, Plante was the first NHL goaltender to always wear mask when playing. With the help of other experts, he made and tested many versions of the goalie mask, including a version of today's mask/helmet combination. Plante was the first goaltender to regularly play the puck outside his crease in support of his team's defencemen, and often instructed his teammates from behind the play, as the goaltender usually has the best view of the game.

Plante was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. He was chosen as the goaltender of the Canadiens' "dream team" in 1985. He was inducted into the Quebec Sports Pantheon in 1994. Lastly, the Montreal Canadiens retired Plante's sweater, #1, in 1995.

Plante was the eldest of 11 children. In 1949, he married Jacqueline Gagné; they had two sons, Michel and Richard. In 1970, Plante met his second wife, Raymonde Udrisard, with whom he eventually moved to Switzerland. He died in Geneva, on February 27, 1986, shortly after he had been diagnosed with untreatable stomach cancer. He was buried in Sierre.

### Regular season

|colspan="3"  bgcolor="#ffffff"||rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff"|||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1947–48|Montreal Royals|QSHL|2|0|0|2|120|5|0|2.50|
|1947–48|Quebec Citadelles|QSHL|31|18|11|1|1840|87|2|2.84|
|1948–49|Quebec Citadelles|QSHL|64|42|12|10|3840|119|7|1.86|
|1949–50|Montreal Royals|QSHL|58|27|22|9|3480|180|0|3.10|
|1950–51|Montreal Royals|QSHL|60|28|29|3|3670|201|4|3.29|
|1951–52|Montreal Royals|QSHL|60|30|24|6|3560|201|4|3.39|
|1952–53|Montreal Royals|QSHL|29|20|8|1|1760|61|4|2.08|
|1952–53|Montreal Canadiens|NHL|3|2|0|1|180|4|0|1.33|
|1952–53|Buffalo Bisons|AHL|33|13|19|1|2000|114|2|3.42|
|1953–54|Buffalo Bisons|AHL|55|32|17|6|3370|148|3|2.64|
|1953–54|Montreal Canadiens|NHL|17|7|5|5|1020|27|5|1.59|
|1954–55|Montreal Canadiens|NHL|52|31|13|7|3080|110|5|2.14|
|1955–56|Montreal Canadiens|NHL|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|

### Post season

|ALIGN="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"||ALIGN="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff"||||||||||||||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="center"|1947–48|align="center"|Quebec|align="center"|QJHL|align="center"|9|align="center"|4|align="center"|5|align="center"|0|align="center"|545|align="center"|28|align="center"|2|align="center"|3.08|
|align="center"|1948–49|align="center"|Quebec|align="center"|QJHL|align="center"|13|align="center"|7|align="center"|6|align="center"|0|align="center"|790|align="center"|43|align="center"|0|align="center"|3.27|
|align="center"|1949–50|align="center"|Montreal Royals|align="center"|QSHL|align="center"|6|align="center"|??|align="center"|??|align="center"|??|align="center"|360|align="center"|20|align="center"|0|align="center"|3.33|
|align="center"|1950–51|align="center"|Montreal Royals|align="center"|QSHL|align="center"|7|align="center"|2|align="center"|5|align="center"|0|align="center"|420|align="center"|26|align="center"|1|align="center"|3.71|
|align="center"|1951–52|align="center"|Montreal Royals|align="center"|QSHL|align="center"|7|align="center"|3|align="center"|4|align="center"|0|align="center"|420|align="center"|21|align="center"|1|align="center"|3.00|
|align="center"|1952–53|align="center"|Montreal Canadiens|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|4|align="center"|3|align="center"|1|align="center"|0|align="center"|240|align="center"|7|align="center"|1|align="center"|1.75|
|align="center"|1953–54|align="center"|Montreal Canadiens|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|8|align="center"|5|align="center"|3|align="center"|0|align="center"|480|align="center"|15|align="center"|2|align="center"|1.88|
|align="center"|1954–55|align="center"|Montreal Canadiens|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|12|align="center"|6|align="center"|4|align="center"|0|align="center"|640|align="center"|30|align="center"|0|align="center"|2.81|
|align="center"|1955–56|align="center"|Montreal Canadiens|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|10|align="center"|8|align="center"|2|align="center"|0|align="center"|600|align="center"|18|align="center"|2|align="center"|1.80|
|align="center"|1956–57|align="center"|Montreal Canadiens|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|10|align="center"|8|align="center"|2|align="center"|0|align="center"|616|align="center"|18|align="center"|1|align="center"|1.75|
|align="center"|1957–58|align="center"|Montreal Canadiens|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|10|align="center"|8|align="center"|2|align="center"|0|align="center"|618|align="center"|20|align="center"|1|align="center"|1.94|
|align="center"|1958–59|align="center"|Montreal Canadiens|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|11|align="center"|8|align="center"|3|align="center"|0|align="center"|670|align="center"|28|align="center"|0|align="center"|2.51|
|align="center"|1959–60|align="center"|Montreal Canadiens|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|8|align="center"|8|align="center"|0|align="center"|0|align="center"|489|align="center"|11|align="center"|3|align="center"|1.35|
|align="center"|1960–61|align="center"|Montreal Canadiens|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|6|align="center"|2|align="center"|4|align="center"|0|align="center"|412|align="center"|16|align="center"|0|align="center"|2.33|
|align="center"|1961–62|align="center"|Montreal Canadiens|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|6|align="center"|2|align="center"|4|align="center"|0|align="center"|360|align="center"|19|align="center"|0|align="center"|3.17|
|align="center"|1962–63|align="center"|Montreal Canadiens|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|5|align="center"|1|align="center"|4|align="center"|0|align="center"|300|align="center"|14|align="center"|0|align="center"|2.80|
|align="center"|1964–65|align="center"|Baltimore Clippers|align="center"|AHL|align="center"|5|align="center"|2|align="center"|3|align="center"|0|align="center"|315|align="center"|14|align="center"|1|align="center"|2.67|
|align="center"|1968–69|align="center"|St. Louis Blues|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|10|align="center"|8|align="center"|2|align="center"|0|align="center"|589|align="center"|14|align="center"|3|align="center"|1.43|
|align="center"|1969–70|align="center"|St. Louis Blues|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|6|align="center"|4|align="center"|1|align="center"|0|align="center"|324|align="center"|8|align="center"|1|align="center"|1.48|
|align="center"|1970–71|align="center"|Toronto Maple Leafs|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|3|align="center"|0|align="center"|2|align="center"|0|align="center"|134|align="center"|7|align="center"|0|align="center"|3.13|
|align="center"|1971–72|align="center"|Toronto Maple Leafs|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|1|align="center"|0|align="center"|1|align="center"|0|align="center"|60|align="center"|5|align="center"|0|align="center"|5.00|
|align="center"|1972–73|align="center"|Boston Bruins|align="center"|NHL|align="center"|2|align="center"|0|align="center"|2|align="center"|0|align="center"|120|align="center"|10|align="center"|0|align="center"|5.00|

## Awards and honours

|Award|Year/Season|
| --- | --- |
|Vezina Trophy|1955–56 NHL season|
|Selected to National Hockey League All-Star First Team|1955–56 NHL season|
|Played in National Hockey League All-Star Game|1956|
|Vezina Trophy|1956–57 NHL season|
|Selected to National Hockey League All-Star Second Team|1956–57 NHL season|
|Played in National Hockey League All-Star Game|1957|
|Vezina Trophy|1957–58 NHL season|
|Selected to National Hockey League All-Star Second Team|1957–58 NHL season|
|Played in National Hockey League All-Star Game|1958|
|Vezina Trophy|1958–59 NHL season|
|Selected to National Hockey League All-Star First Team|1958–59 NHL season|
|Played in National Hockey League All-Star Game|1959|
|Vezina Trophy|1959–60 NHL season|
|Selected to National Hockey League All-Star Second Team|1959–60 NHL season|
|Played in National Hockey League All-Star Game|1960|
|Hart Memorial Trophy|1961–62 NHL season|
|Vezina Trophy|1961–62 NHL season|
|Selected to National Hockey League All-Star First Team|1961–62 NHL season|
|Played in National Hockey League All-Star Game|1962|
|Shared (with Glenn Hall) Vezina Trophy|1968–69 NHL season|
|Played in National Hockey League All-Star Game|1969|
|Played in National Hockey League All-Star Game|1970|
|Selected to National Hockey League All-Star Second Team|1970–71 NHL season|
|Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame|1978|
|Selected to the Canada Sports Hall of Fame|1981|

## Related pages

- Goalie mask
- Glenn Hall
- Terry Sawchuk

## Bibliography

- O'Brien, Andy with Plante, Jacques (1973) _The Jacques Plante Story_. Toronto: McGraw Hill. .
- Plante, Jacques (1972). _On goaltending: Fundamentals of hockey netminding by the master of the game_. Toronto: Collier MacMillan Canada. .
    - Published 1972 in French as _Devant le filet_. Toronto: Collier MacMillan Canada.  .
    - Both editions reprinted 1997. Montreal: Multimedia Robert Davies.  (English) and  (French).

## Other websites

- History by the Minute—re-enactment of the game where Plante first wore a goaltender mask in regulation play
- NHL Network Online video article on Plante, including footage from November 1, 1959

## Infobox (ice hockey player)

- **halloffame**: 1978
- **image**: Jacques plante.jpg
- **caption**: Plante as a member of the Quebec Citadelles#Other teams with the same name, Quebec Citadelles,
 wearing one of his characteristic tuques, 1948
- **image size**: 230px
- **birth place**: Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, Quebec,
Canada
- **death place**: Geneva, Switzerland
- **height ft**: 6
- **height in**: 0
- **weight lb**: 175
- **position**: Goaltender
- **catches**: Left
- **played for**: **National Hockey League, NHL**
Montreal Canadiens
New York Rangers
St. Louis Blues
Toronto Maple Leafs
Boston Bruins
**World Hockey Association, WHA**
Edmonton Oilers
- **career start**: 1952
- **career end**: 1975