Jacques Plante

thumb Joseph Jacques Omer "Jake the Snake" Plante (January 17, 1929 – February 27, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He won the Stanley Cup six times, of which five were consecutive. He invented the first practical goaltender mask. Sourced Hockey is an art. It requires speed, precision, and strength like other sports, but it also demands an extraordinary intelligence to develop a logical sequence of movements, a technique which is smooth, graceful and in rhythm with the rest of the game. Quoted in Kevin Shea, "One on One with Jacques Plante," Legends of Hockey.net (2005-05-24) Our hockey team consisted of boys seventeen and eighteen years old and I used to watch them play all the time on the outdoor rink. On this one day, I remember it was very cold and I was looking at the game while standing indoors with my back against a stove. The goalie was having trouble and the coach accused him of not doing his best. The goalie was mad and took his skates off. I rushed toward the coach and volunteered to take his place. There was no other goalie around, so I went in the net and played with them the rest of the season. Quoted in Kevin Shea, "One on One with Jacques Plante," Legends of Hockey.net (2005-05-24) My knees started to shake. In the dressing room that night, I was so nervous I couldn't tie my skates. Maurice Richard walked over and held out his hands. 'Look at them,' he said. 'They shake before a big game. You'll feel better when you get out on the ice.' Plante recalls his first playoff game, which he won 3–0. Quoted in Kevin Shea, "One on One with Jacques Plante," Legends of Hockey.net (2005-05-24) I was with the [Quebec] Citadelles. We had four defensemen. One couldn't skate backwards. Another couldn't turn to his left. The others were slow. It was a case of me having to go and get the puck when it was shot into our end because our defense couldn't get there fast enough. The more I did it, the farther I went. It seemed to be the best thing to do, so I did it and it worked." Plante continued, "Possession of the puck is number one. That's all I'm doing—getting control until one of my teammates comes along." Plante refers to his puck-handling ability. Quoted in Kevin Shea, "One on One with Jacques Plante," Legends of Hockey.net (2005-05-24) The shot by [Andy] Bathgate nearly ripped my nose off. I told Toe [Blake] I would only return if I could wear the mask, so there was no choice. He never wanted me to wear the mask because he thought it would make me too complacent. Plante refers to November 1, 1959, when he debuted the first practical goaltender mask. Quoted in Kevin Shea, "One on One with Jacques Plante," Legends of Hockey.net (2005-05-24) Goaltending is a normal job, sure. How would you like it in your job if every time you made a small mistake, a red light went on over your desk and 15,000 people stood up and yelled at you?* from On Goaltending (1997), by Jacques Plante External links Jacques Plante Category:Ice hockey players from Canada Category:Inventors Category:Sportspeople from Quebec Category:1929 births Category:1986 deaths Category:Hockey Hall of Fame inductees