Editing Jacques Plante (section)

===Minor leagues===
[[File:Citadellesdequebec.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|Plante, seated in front in [[tuque]], with the [[Quebec Citadelles#Other teams with the same name|Quebec Citadelles]]]]
Jacques joined the [[Quebec Citadelles#Other teams with the same name|Quebec Citadelles]] in 1947. While playing for Quebec, Plante started to play the puck outside his crease,<ref name="TwentyFour">Plante, R., p. 24.</ref> a technique he developed when he recognized that the team's defense was performing poorly. Fans found Plante's unconventional playing style to be exciting,<ref name="TwentyThree">Plante, R., p. 23.</ref> but it angered his managers, who believed that a goaltender should stay in the net and let his players recover the puck.<ref name="TwentyFour"/> Plante had concluded that as long as he was in control of the puck, the opponents could not shoot it at him – this is now standard practice for goaltenders.<ref name="TwentyFive">Plante, R., p. 25.</ref> The same season, the Citadelles beat the [[Montreal Junior Canadiens]] in the league finals, with Plante being named the most valuable player on his team.<ref name="TwentySix">Plante, R., p. 26.</ref> The [[Montreal Canadiens]]' general manager, [[Frank J. Selke]], became interested in acquiring Plante as a member of the team.<ref name="TwentySix"/> In 1948, Plante received an invitation to the Canadiens' training camp. On August 17, 1949, Selke offered Plante a contract. Plante played for Montreal's affiliate [[Royal Montreal Hockey Club]], earning $4,500 for the season, and an extra $500 for practicing with the Canadiens.<ref name="ThirtyOne">Plante, R., p. 31.</ref>

In January 1953, Plante was called up to play for the Canadiens. [[Bill Durnan]], the goaltender who played for Montreal when Plante first began, had retired in 1950, and [[Gerry McNeil]], their top goaltender, had fractured his jaw.<ref name="1on1"/> Plante played three games, but in that short time, he generated controversy. Coach [[Dick Irvin|Dick Irvin, Sr.]] did not wish his players to stand out by any addition to their regular uniforms.<ref name="ThirtyEight">Plante, R., p. 38.</ref> Plante always wore one of his tuques while playing hockey, and after an argument with Irvin, all of Plante's tuques had vanished from the Montreal locker room.<ref name="ThirtyNine">Plante, R., p. 39.</ref> Even without his good luck charm,<ref name="ThirtyEight"/> Plante gave up only four goals in the three games he played, all of them wins.<ref name="ThirtyNine"/>

Later during the [[1952–53 NHL season]], Plante played in the playoffs against the [[Chicago Blackhawks|Chicago Black Hawks]]. He won his first playoff game with a shutout.<ref name="Irvin94">Irvin (1991), p. 94.</ref> Montreal won that series and eventually, the Stanley Cup, and Plante's name was engraved on the Cup for the first time.<ref name="Irvin94"/>

At the beginning of 1953, McNeil was still the starting goaltender for the Canadiens.<ref name="mcneil">{{cite web|url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=18623|title=Gerry George McNeil|publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame|access-date=March 12, 2008}}</ref> Selke assigned Plante to the [[Buffalo Bisons (AHL)|Buffalo Bisons]] of the [[American Hockey League]] so fans in the United States would get to know him.<ref name="Forty">Plante, R., p. 40.</ref> Plante was instantly successful; Fred Hunt, the general manager of the Bisons, told [[Kenny Reardon]], Montreal's recruiting manager, "he's <nowiki>[Plante]</nowiki> the biggest attraction since the good old days of [[Terry Sawchuk]]."<ref name="Forty"/>