The Maven was there at The Old Garden on the night of November 1, 1959 when Montreal goalie Jacques Plante donned a mask for the first time ... smashing his face amid much bloodletting, That's ...

And Jacques ... Plante reasoned after hundreds of facial stitches, should wear masks for protection. The Quebec native changed the way goalies played and looked. While Plante wasn't the first ...

1959 when Montreal goalie Jacques Plante donned a mask for the first time. It happened in the first period of the Habs-Rangers game when an Andy Bathgate backhander hit the unmasked Plante right in ...