Jacques Plante, 1959: After getting hit in the face with a puck three minutes into a game, Plante went for repairs and later returned in the same game wearing a mask, becoming the first NHL Goalie to do so
That hit broke his nose and he had to get stitches. When Plante returned from the locker room, he was wearing the crude home-made goaltender mask that he had been using in practices. His coach, Toe Blake was livid, as he believed the mask would limit Plante's vision but he had no other goaltender to call upon and Plante refused to return to the goal unless he wore the mask. Blake agreed on the condition that Plante discard the mask when the cut healed. Plante and the Canadiens went on a winning streak while he wore the mask. The first game he played without, they lost, so back on it went.
From his wiki : "In 1932, Plante began to play hockey, skateless and with a tennis ball, using a goaltender's hockey stick his father had carved from a tree root. (...) Plante suffered from asthma starting in early childhood. This prevented him from skating for extended periods so he gravitated to playing goaltender. As his playing progressed, Jacques received his first regulation goaltender's stick for Christmas of 1936. His father made Plante's first pads by stuffing potato sacks and reinforcing them with wooden panels. As a child, Plante played hockey outdoors in the bitterly cold Quebec winters. His mother taught him how to knit his own tuques to protect him from the cold. Plante continued knitting and embroidering throughout his life and wore his hand-knitted tuques while playing and practicing until entering the National Hockey League (NHL)."
SnuggleMonster15 on November 12nd, 2017 at 13:22 UTC »
And inspired serial murders everywhere.
OMFGFlorida on November 12nd, 2017 at 13:43 UTC »
That hit broke his nose and he had to get stitches. When Plante returned from the locker room, he was wearing the crude home-made goaltender mask that he had been using in practices. His coach, Toe Blake was livid, as he believed the mask would limit Plante's vision but he had no other goaltender to call upon and Plante refused to return to the goal unless he wore the mask. Blake agreed on the condition that Plante discard the mask when the cut healed. Plante and the Canadiens went on a winning streak while he wore the mask. The first game he played without, they lost, so back on it went.
sonia72quebec on November 12nd, 2017 at 15:27 UTC »
From his wiki : "In 1932, Plante began to play hockey, skateless and with a tennis ball, using a goaltender's hockey stick his father had carved from a tree root. (...) Plante suffered from asthma starting in early childhood. This prevented him from skating for extended periods so he gravitated to playing goaltender. As his playing progressed, Jacques received his first regulation goaltender's stick for Christmas of 1936. His father made Plante's first pads by stuffing potato sacks and reinforcing them with wooden panels. As a child, Plante played hockey outdoors in the bitterly cold Quebec winters. His mother taught him how to knit his own tuques to protect him from the cold. Plante continued knitting and embroidering throughout his life and wore his hand-knitted tuques while playing and practicing until entering the National Hockey League (NHL)."