Editing Jacques Plante (section)

====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>