THE PLAYER WITH THE MOST WINS IN FRANCHISE HISTORY, JACQUES PLANTE REVOLUTIONIZED THE POSITION FOR GOALTENDERS EVERYWHERE IN THE 1950S.

All professional athletes dream of leaving behind a legacy long after they are gone but few impact their sport the way Jacques Plante did. The Habs’ goaltending legend did it all during his glorious career, including literally changing the face of hockey forever.

Change and innovation are not always well received. While today’s hockey world would recoil in horror at the thought of a barefaced goaltender, it was the norm when Plante designed and fashioned his first mask. Forbidden to wear it in games, Plante was grudgingly allowed to use his device in practice.

On November 1, 1959, Plante stopped a shot with his face and went to the dressing room for stitches, refusing to return unless he could wear his mask. Coach Toe Blake was incensed but, with no one else to call upon, he relented and Plante returned to the ice on his own terms. The rest is history.

Plante’s tenure with the Montreal Canadiens began in 1952-53 under Dick Irvin’s tutelage. While still an amateur, the Shawinigan Falls native played three games with the big club, winning two and allowing only four goals.

With goalie Gerry McNeil unable to play in all of the postseason games that year, Plante got the call again when the playoffs rolled around, winning three of the four games he spent between the pipes. His name was among those engraved on the Stanley Cup when the Habs defeated Boston to claim the championship.

By the start of the 1954-55 campaign, the starting goaltender’s job belonged to Jacques Plante. He stood tall in the Montreal net for the next decade. By the time he dared to don the mask, he was recognized as the best of his era and was generally listed among the greatest of all time.

Plante backstopped the Canadiens to the Finals in his first full season with the team. Winning 33 of 52 regular season games and posting a 2.14 goals-against average, he ranked third among NHL netminders. Things only got better in the years to come, both for Plante and for the Canadiens.

A pillar in goal and one of 12 men who were members of all five Stanley Cup-winning teams between 1956 and 1960, Plante played the angles to perfection, constantly analyzing the play in front of him. Rarely caught out of position, even after his forays beyond the crease, Plante coolly turned back oncoming attackers with a consistency that other goaltenders could only aspire to.

As the Canadiens piled up the silverware, Plante earned his fair share of personal glory. Each of the Stanley Cup Championships was accompanied by individual honors for Plante. When the NHL had the perennial All-Star’s name engraved annually on hockey’s Holy Grail, they sent along the Vézina Trophy to undergo the same treatment.

Plante led the league in goals-against average in each of the five years he was awarded the Vézina. He led the league in wins on four occasions and was tops in shutouts in three consecutive seasons.

In 1961-62, Plante became the first-ever goalie to earn both the Vézina and Hart Trophy as the league’s top goaltender and MVP in the same season, a feat repeated only twice since by Dominik Hasek of the Sabres and Jose Theodore of the Canadiens.

More than 40 years after playing his last game with Montreal, Plante’s 556 games in the Canadiens’ crease has not been surpassed. Neither have his 42 wins in the same season, a mark he hit twice. He also leads all Canadiens netminders with 314 career victories. A career goals-against average of 2.23 and 75 shutouts makes the man nicknamed “Jake the Snake” the second-stingiest backstop in team history.

Jacques Plante was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978, the first year he was eligible for the honor. He passed away in 1986.

On October 7, 1995, his number “1” was retired and raised to the rafters of the Forum.