NOVEMBER 1st - A Puck to the Face will Never Feel Good


On this day, in 1959 Jacques Plante of the Canadiens became the first goalie in the NHL to wear a full facemask. During their game against the Rangers, Plante took a puck to the face. Pretty sure that will never feel good, but this one split his lip. Had to go back in locker room to get stitches and when he came back out, he was wearing a white fiberglass mask he had been using in practice. His coach was not happy because, you know, his coach wasn't the one who had pucks flying at his face constantly. But Plante said he wouldn’t play without the mask. He took some grief. Hockey is a macho sport, you know. Checking. Fighting. Sticks. Ice. Pucks. It ain't exactly checkers. So Plante was made fun on. Mocked. Teased. But you know what tends to make you forget about being teased. Physical pain. Plante had broken his nose four times. Broken his jaw. Cheekbones. And needed about 200 stitches in his head. So. Yeah. Good call on the mask, dude. He wore it the rest of his career. And others followed suit. They probably realized it was better being called chicken than suffering a broken nose or cheekbone. Not too mention--hockey masks are pretty bad-ass.

This Day has been Marked.    

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