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