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EVOLUTION
CHANGING THE FACE OF THE GAME
On a November night in 1959, in New York's Madison Square Garden, Jacques Plante, the Montreal Canadiens goalie, took a puck in the face; he was helped to the dressing room and stitched up. But Plante, his face sutured by some 150 career stitches, told his coach, Toe Blake, "I'm not going back on the ice without my mask." That fiberglass contraption was a product of Plante's own experimentation, and after he wore it on his return to the ice that night, hockey never looked the same.
1928
CLINT BENEDICT
Montreal Maroons
1959
JACQUES PLANTE
Montreal Canadiens
1964
TERRY SAWCHUK
Detroit Red Wings
1970
GERRY GHEEVERS
Boston Bruins
1973
DUNC WILSON
Vancouver Canucks
1974
DOUG GRANT
Detroit Red Wings
1976
GILLES GILBERT
Boston Bruins
1976
MIKE PALMATEER
Toronto Maple Leafs
1977
GILLES MELOCHE
Cleveland Barons
1976
GILLES GRATTON
New York Rangers
1978
BERNIE WOLFE
Washington Capitals
1978
DOUG FAVELL
Colorado Rockies
1979
CHICO RESCH
New York Islanders
1981
AL SMITH
Colorado Rockies
1982
DON BEAUPRE
Minnesota North Stars
FIFTEEN PHOTOS
BRET WILLS
