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JACQUES PLANTE
Jacques "Jake
the Snake" Plante was born on January 17, 1929 in Shawinigan
Falls, Quebec, Canada. He played his minor hockey with the Montreal
Canadiens farm system nad got his first shot at NHL play in the 1952-53
season. Plante made another brief stint with the club before becoming the
starting goaltender of the Habs in the 1954-55 season. From 1955 to 1960,
Plante won five consecutive Vezina trophies as the best goaltender in the
National Hockey League, racking up 185 wins along the way. In 1962 Plante
would win his sixth Vezina trophy along with the Hart trophy as most
valuable player in the NHL. In 1963 he was traded to the New York Rangers
for Gump Worsley. Jacques endured through two tough seasons in New York
before retiring in 1965. His retirement though would not last that long as
the expansion St Louis Blues would come knocking in 1968. Plante joined
the Blues for two seasons, sharing a Vezina trophy with fellow goaltending
great Glenn Hall. He would go on to make stops in Toronto and Boston with
the Maple Leafs and Bruins, before playing for the Edmonton Oilers of the
World Hockey Association.
Jacques
Plante was one of the most influential goaltenders in NHL history. One of
his early innovations was moving out of the crease to handle the puck
behind the net for his defensemen on shoot-ins. More importantly he was
the first goalie to wear a mask. Plante used to wear the mask during
practice, but in a game against the New York Rangers in 1959 he tripped
Andy Bathgate, who retaliated by deliberately shooting a puck at Plante's
face. He was badly cut and broke his cheekbone, but Plante returned to the
game and made history by playing with a face mask. Off the ice, Plante was
known to be a little eccentric and a loner. He did not believe in
socializing with many people, including his teammates. But his play on the
ice left a mark on every goalie who ever put on a pair of pads. Plante was
inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978 and passed away in 1986 of
stomach cancer in Switzerland.
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DOUG
HARVEY
Doug Harvey was
born on December 19, 1924 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He played his
junior and amateur hockey in his hometown of Montreal. He entered the
National Hockey League in the 1947-48 season with the Montreal Canadiens.
Doug Harvey played 35 games in his rookie year with the Canadiens,
chalking up 8 points along the way. Over the next few seasons his game
continued to improve and by the 1950-51 season, Harvey was considered one
of the premier NHL defensemen. He earned his first of eleven all-star
nominations in the 1951-52 season. In an era when defensemen were not
associated with scoring points, Harvey used his grace and skill to
transform the rear-guard position to include puck control, passing, and
scoring.
As the Montreal
Canadiens dynasty ploughed through the 1950s, Doug Harvey added many
accolades including seven Norris Trophies as the best NHL defenseman. He
also guided the Canadiens to six Stanley Cups in that decade. With the
retirement of Maurice Richard, Harvey was named captain of the Montreal
Canadiens in 1960-61. But the very next season saw him traded to the New
York Rangers. Harvey excelled in his first season at New York, winning his
seventh Norris Trophy in a dual player-coach role. His days in New York
were done in 1963 when he moved on and played a few seasons in the minor
leagues. He popped up with the Detroit Red Wings in 1966-67 and after the
NHL expansion signed with the St. Louis Blues before retiring in 1969.
Doug Harvey was probably the best defenseman in his heyday and ranks up
there with the all-time greats like Bobby Orr and Eddie Shore. He was the
total package who could skate, pass, hit, score, rush the puck, and coach.
He was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973 and passed away in his
hometown of Montreal in 1989 due to cirrhoisis of the liver.
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JEAN
BELIVEAU
Jean "Le
Gros Bill" Beliveau was born on August 31, 1931 in Trois
Rivieres, Quebec, Canada. Beliveau played his entire hockey career within
the Quebec system. In 1946 he began playing with the Victoriaville Pathers,
moving up to the Tigers and the Quebec Aces and Citadelle of the Quebec
Junior Hockey League. He got his first taste of NHL play in 1951 chalking
up two points in two games with the big club. After another short stint of
three games the following season, Jean Beliveau would make his NHL stay
permanent in the 1953-54 season playing in 44 games and scoring 34 points.
At 6 feet, 3 inches and 205 pounds, with exquisite skill and toughness,
Beliveau was considered a blueprint for NHL superstars in the years to
come.
Beliveau's career got
on track in Montreal during the 1954-55 season as he finished third in
league scoring and earned his first All-Star team nomination. The
following year Beliveau would lead the NHL in scoring and won a Hart
Trophy as most valuable player to go along with his Art Ross scoring
title. To finish it off, Belivea and the Canadiens would go on to win the
Stanley Cup championship, his first of ten with Montreal. Beliveau
continued his upward march through the NHL, breaking his personal best
mark of points in 1958-59 and winning another league scoring championship.
He was named captain of the Canadiens in 1961-62 and would continue to
rack up personal accolades and Stanley Cup championships.
In 1971 he became only the fourth player in NHL history to score 500 goals
and had earlier surpassed the 1,000 point mark. Beliveau retired in 1971
as a winner, winning his tenth Stanley Cup with the Canadiens. The usual
waiting period for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame was waived for
Jean Beliveau and he was honored by the institution in 1972. He moved from
the ice to the front office, as an executive with the Montreal Canadiens
organization. Upon his retirement in 1994 he was offered the position of
Governor General of Canada, which he rejected. He continues to serve as an
ambassador for the Montreal Canadiens.
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HOWIE
MORENZ
If
ever it could be said that a player was bigger than the game, Howie Morenz
would be that player. "The Babe Ruth of Hockey" was a winner
right from the start. After playing 5 years of pre-NHL hockey in
Stratford, Morenz signed on with the Canadiens for the 1923-24 season and
led the Habs to a thrilling Stanley Cup championship. The next season
Morenz netted 27 goals, second on the club only to Aurel Joliat but for
the next 7 seasons Morenz led his Canadiens in both goals and points.
During that stretch, Morenz led the NHL in scoring in the 1927-28 season
and then again in the 1930-31 season. The early thirties were
exceptionally kind to Morenz and his organization as they captured back to
back Stanley Cup championships in 1930 and 1931. Howie Morenz was awarded
the Hart Trophy 3 times during his astonishing career and captured NHL
First Team All-Star honors in 1931 and 1932. In the midst of an injury
plagued career, Les Habitants deemed it necessary to move Morenz out of
Montreal and traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks with Lorne Chabot and
Marty Burke for Leroy Goldsworthy, Lionel Conacher, and Roger Jenkins on
October 3, 1934. In 1936 Morenz finished out the season with the New York
Rangers and the following year wound up back on Forum Ice.
Howie
Morenz's career, and life, ended prematurely due to a freak accident which
happened in the first period of a game against the Blackhawks on January
28, 1937. Morenz chased a puck against the boards and was checked by 6'
3" Chicago defenseman Earl Siebert. Morenz's skate blade became
twisted up in a crack on the boards and his leg actually snapped, breaking
his leg. It is said that the snap of the bone was so loud that it could be
heard everywhere in the arena. Siebert, the future Hall of Famer, remorsed
"I was the guy who killed him. I didn't mean to hurt him but I gave
him the body check. I pinned him to the boards when his skate got caught
and he fell. I was stunned when I heard that he'd died (six weeks after).
I simply couldn't believe it. He was the greatest all-around player in the
game." The check by Siebert was perfectly legal and no penalty was
issued to him during the game. Morenz was honored as one of the first 12
men to be inducted into Hockey's Hall of Fame in 1945.
Perhaps
the greatest testament to the respect that the hockey world had for Morenz
came in this speech that New York Rangers coach Lester Patrick addressed
his team with before a game - "Don't hit Morenz tonight. The little
guy is nursing a leg so sore he shouldn't be playing. He only dressed
because he knows the New York fans are anxious to see him perform. So get
in his way and go easy on him and his gimpy leg."
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MAURICE
RICHARD
Maurice "The
Rocket" Richard was born on Auguest 4, 1921 in Verdun, Quebec,
Canada. Richard came through the Montreal Canadiens system and broke into
the NHL in the 1942-43 season. Injuries plagued "The Rocket"
throughout his career, including his rookie year when a broken ankle
limited him to only 16 games. The thought of quitting came to his mind,
but Richard persevered and made a recovery and returned to hockey in the
NHL. In 1944-45 Richard scored 50 goals in 50 games establishing a single
season record for goals scored. That record wouldn't be broken until Bobby
Hull would score 54 goals, though in a much longer, 70 game season. Wayne
Gretzky would eventually break the record for fastest to reach 50 goals by
accomplishing the feat in just 39 games.
Maurice Richard scored
his 500th career goal in 1957 and would eventually retire after the
1959-60 season as injuries caught up to him. Richard was one of the most
prolific scorer in the six-team NHL, including scoring 82 post season
goals and have 26 games with three or more goals scored. Richard made
fourteen All-Star appearances and added eight Stanley Cup Championships,
including one in his final season. Richard spent his entire career with
the Montreal Canadeins and his 544 career goals to date remain the highest
in Montreal Canadiens history. The Rocket was inducted into the Hockey
Hall of Fame in 1961 and as of the 1998-99 season, the National Hockey
League has started awarding the "Maurice Richard Trophy" for the
regular season league leader in goal scoring.
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GUY
LAFLEUR
Guy "The
Flower" Lafleur was born on September 20, 1951 in Thurso,
Quebec, Canada. Growing up in Quebec he idolized Jean Beliveau, the
Montreal Canadiens great. Lafleur's junior career in the QMJHL was capped
by his final two seasons as a Quebec Rempart with him scoring 233 goals.
He was drafted first overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 1971. He jumped
straight to the big club and progressed over the first few years. He came
into his own during the 1974-1980 time frame by putting together six
straight seasons with 50 goals or more. During that stint Lafleur won a
couple of Art Ross and Hart trophies along with four Stanley Cup
championships.
Lafleur scored 518 goals and 1,246 points as a Montreal Canadien, putting
him as the leading scorer in franchise history. He retired during the
1984-85 season and was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988. He
decided to make a comeback during the 1988-89 season and played 67 games
with the New York Rangers. He went on to spend two more years with the
Quebec Nordiques before retiring for good at the end of 1990-91 season.
During his prime, Guy Lafleur had a unique combination of speed, style and
scoring touch that made him one of the most exciting NHL players.
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HENRI
RICHARD
The diminutive
Pocket Rocket, only 5'7" and 160 pounds, defied all critics who
claimed he was too small to prosper in the NHL by winning 11 Stanley Cups
during a career spanning 20 years! Henri Richard won the Stanley Cup in
each of his first 5 seasons with Montreal and by his second year in the
NHL had established himself as reliable scoring forward. The all-time
Canadiens leader in games played, Henri notched the winning goal of the
Stanley Cup Championship round in game 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks,
earning him his 10th Cup. Richard also Captained the Habs, succeeding the
loved Jean Beliveau - not an easy feat, though Richard was arguably as
popular as Beliveau among Montreal fanatics.
Henri notched 358
regualr season goals with 688 assists in 1256 contests. His playoff
numbers show 49-80-129 in 180 games. The Pocket Rocket was named to the
NHL All-Stars first team in 1958, and the second team three times.
Additionally, Richard won the Masterton Trophy in 1974 and participated in
10 NHL All-Star games. Henri Richard was elected to the Hockey Hall of
Fame in 1979.
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