Jacques Plante:
The Man Who Changed the Face of Hockey
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by Todd Denault
McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 2009 $32.99
In the world of sports, when players put their bodies on the line to help their squad win, they call it “taking one for the team.”
Well, Jacques Plante — the celebrated netminder who played in the National Hockey League from the 1950s to the 1970s — certainly took more than his share, and quite often square in the face.
Plante, of course, is the man who revolutionized the position of goalie by becoming the first NHL player to regularly wear a mask. He was also the first backstop to challenge the opposition by leaving his crease to cut off shooting angles, and he worked closely and vocally with his defencemen, acting as an on-ice general commanding the troops.
Plante took a lot of heat for his decision to cover up, and writer Todd Denault paints a compelling portrait of the man behind the mask. As the Montreal Canadiens, the team with which he won six of his record seven Vezina trophies, celebrates 100 years of play, Jacques Plante is a welcome addition to the storied team’s literary canon.
— Mark Collin Reid (Read bio)
Mark Collin Reid is the Editor-in-Chief of Canada's History.