Editing Jacques Plante (section)

===Montreal Canadiens===
By the end of the [[1953–54 NHL season|1953–54 season]], Plante was well-entrenched within the NHL.<ref>Adrahtas, p. 52.</ref> In the spring of 1954, he underwent surgery to correct his left hand, which he had broken in his childhood. He could not move his hand well enough to catch high shots and compensated by using the rest of his body. The operation was successful.<ref name="FortySeven">Plante, R., p. 47.</ref>

On February 12, 1954, Plante was called up to the Canadiens and established himself as their starting goaltender – he did not return to the minor leagues for many years.<ref name="Hunter118">Hunter, D., p. 118.</ref> Plante was the Canadiens' number one goaltender at the beginning of the [[1954–55 NHL season]]. On March 13, 1955, with only four games left in the season, an on-ice brawl resulted in the suspension of Montreal's leading scorer, [[Maurice Richard]], for the rest of the season and the playoffs. Four nights later, playing in Montreal in front of an angry crowd, Plante was witness to the [[Richard Riot|riot]] that followed. The Canadiens subsequently lost to the [[Detroit Red Wings]] in the finals.<ref>Irvin (1991), p. 125.</ref>

For the [[1955–56 NHL season|1955–56 season]], Plante was the unchallenged starting goaltender of the Canadiens; [[Gerry McNeil]] had not played the previous season and was sent to the [[Royal Montreal Hockey Club|Montreal Royals]]. [[Charlie Hodge (ice hockey)|Charlie Hodge]], Plante's backup the previous season, was sent to the [[Seattle_Totems#Seattle_Americans_(1955–58)|Seattle Americans]], a Canadiens' farm team.<ref name="SixtyTwo">Plante, R., p. 62.</ref> Later that season, Montreal won the Stanley Cup, the first of what would be five consecutive Stanley Cup championship seasons.<ref>Irvin (1991), p.&nbsp;130.</ref> For his part, Plante won the first of five consecutive [[Vezina Trophy|Vezina Trophies]].<ref>Plante, R., pp. 205–207</ref> The [[1956–57 NHL season|next season]], Plante missed most of November because of chronic [[bronchitis]], a consequence of asthma that had affected him since childhood.<ref name="SixtyFour">Plante, R., p. 64.</ref> During the [[1957–58 NHL season]], the Canadiens won their third straight Stanley Cup despite injuries to Plante and other members of the team. Plante's asthma was getting worse. He sustained a concussion with just a few weeks left in the season and missed three games of the playoffs.<ref name="SeventyOne">Plante, R., p. 71.</ref> In the sixth game of the Stanley Cup finals, Plante's asthma was making him dizzy, and he was having difficulty concentrating; he collapsed at the end of the game after teammate [[Doug Harvey (ice hockey)|Doug Harvey]] scored the series-winning goal.<ref name="SeventyThree">Plante, R., p. 73.</ref> The Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup again at the close of the [[1958-59 NHL season|1958–59 season]].<ref>Plante, R., p. 206</ref>

====Goalie mask====
[[File:Plante Mask.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Plante's original fibreglass mask|alt=the mask is white and of solid construction with egg-sized oval cutouts for the eyes and a rectangular cutout from the base of the nose to below the lower lip]]
During the [[1959–60 NHL season|1959–60 season]], Plante wore a [[goaltender mask]] for the first time in a regular season game. Although Plante had used his mask in practice since 1956 after missing 13 games because of a [[sinusitis]] operation,<ref name="Legends HHOF"/> head coach [[Toe Blake]] was afraid it would impair his vision and would not permit him to wear it during regulation play.<ref name="Fischler27">Fischler, S., pp. 27–28.</ref> However, on November 1, 1959, Plante's nose was broken when he was hit by a shot fired by [[Andy Bathgate]] three minutes into a game against the [[New York Rangers]], and he was taken to the dressing room for stitches. When he returned, he was wearing the crude homemade goaltender mask that he had been using in practices. Blake was livid, but he had no other goaltender to call upon and Plante refused to return to the goal unless he wore the mask. Blake agreed on the condition that Plante discard the mask when the cut healed.<ref name="Fischler27"/> The Canadiens won the game 3–1. During the following days, Plante refused to discard the mask, and as the Canadiens continued to win, Blake was less vocal about it.<ref name="Eighty">Plante, R., p. 80.</ref> The unbeaten streak stretched to 18 games.<ref name="Hunter119">Hunter, D., p.&nbsp;119.</ref> Plante did not wear the mask, at Blake's request, against Detroit on March 8, 1960; the Canadiens lost 3–0, and the mask returned for good the next night.<ref name="EightyOne">Plante, R., p.&nbsp;81.</ref> That year, the Canadiens won their fifth straight Stanley Cup, which was Plante's last.<ref name="VIIIV">Adrahtas, p.&nbsp;85.</ref>

Plante subsequently designed his own and other goaltenders' masks.<ref name="TwoZeroFive">Plante, R., p.&nbsp;205.</ref> He was not the first NHL goaltender known to wear a face mask. [[Montreal Maroons]]' [[Clint Benedict]] wore a crude leather version in 1930 to protect a broken nose, but Plante introduced the mask as everyday equipment, and it is now mandatory [[Ice hockey goaltending equipment|equipment for goaltenders]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p196502&page=bio#photo
|title=Clint Benedict—Biography
|publisher=[[Hockey Hall of Fame]]
|access-date=January 28, 2008}}</ref>