Goalie mask turns 50
Fifty years ago today, hockey changed forever.
On Nov. 1, 1959, Jacques Plante became the first NHL goalie to wear a facemask, beginning the end of an era in which goalies -- including Blackhawks legend Glenn Hall -- did things that are incomprehensible today.
(AP)
Not only did Hall not wear a mask, but he played in an NHL-record 503 consecutive games. Most of those -- 363, in fact -- came with the Hawks, his team from 1957 to 1967.
''Playing all those games for how many years in a row -- every minute without a mask -- and facing Bobby [Hull] in practice,'' Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. ''Wow! That was a different level. That stat is probably one of the most amazing things in hockey.''
While Hall and a few others played on without masks, Plante's decision to use one revolutionized the sport. The NHL is spotlighting Plante's debut with a mask in recognition of the positive changes it brought to the game.
The Hawks started playing in 1926. Their goalies, as well as those on other teams, faced pucks without masks for more than three decades, though there was one brief exception. Clint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons wore a leather half-mask for a few games in 1930 to protect an injury to his nose and cheekbone.
But goaltending became an increasingly dangerous profession, and the advent of masks was inevitable. Plante had worn a rudimentary mask in practice with the Montreal Canadiens, but coach Toe Blake wouldn't let him wear it when the games counted because he was afraid it would impair Plante's vision.
But during a game Nov. 1, 1959, between the Canadiens and New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, a shot by the Rangers' Andy Bathgate sliced Plante from the corner of his mouth through his nostril. The game was delayed for 20 minutes while Plante received treatment. Teams didn't have backup goalies then, and Plante declared he wouldn't return to the ice unless he could wear a cream-colored Plexiglass facemask. Without a backup, Blake had no choice but to let him.
Until then, no goalie had facial protection from the pucks that came his way every practice and every game. Once Plante went with a mask, others followed. Now it's illegal to play without one.
''Those men were brave,'' Hawks goalie Cristobal Huet said. ''I feel pretty lucky nowadays to have the protection we have. Even in the 1980s, goalies weren't protected as well as we are now. Shots are coming really heavy now, so we really need that.''
Huet said he has no doubt what would happen if he didn't have his mask.
''I'd be dead right now,'' he said.
Wolves general manager Wendell Young, a former goalie, said he was glad masks were standard equipment when he started playing.
''That's why I keep my good looks,'' he said. ''I know I wouldn't have been a goalie if it wasn't for masks.''
Masks have changed considerably since Young put one on for the first time.
''We didn't have great masks back then, but at least we had something to protect us,'' he said. ''We had the old helmets with a screen in front. I borrowed a mask from my brother to wear in a game once, and it was just a piece of plastic.''
Young wore the helmet with the screen into his NHL days in the 1990s.
''Then I took a shot that actually broke the bar, and our team's trainer said I'd better switch over,'' Young said. ''I'm lucky I did.''
Young said he frequently spoke to children about goaltending.
''I told them that the puck comes in at 100 mph and that their parents drive the highways at only about 60 mph, and it was my job to get in front of those pucks,'' he said. ''I must have faced a million shots, and a good 5,000 times I was hit in the head. But the puck never broke the mask.''
Masks no longer are made of plastic, of course. Now they're made of composites and are molded to fit the goalie's face. They also are painted with all kinds of designs.
''I can remember getting a custom-made mask, and they had to make a mold of my face while I was breathing out of a straw,'' Young said. ''It took the guy 40 hours to make it, and it was expensive -- about $2,000. Now I'd guess they cost about $1,000.''
Young admitted he once considered playing without a mask for historical purposes.
''At the end of my career, I actually thought of doing one shift without my mask so I could say I was the last goalie to do it,'' he said. ''But now when a goalie's mask comes off, the [referee's] whistle blows and the game is stopped.''