Jake the Snake: Jaques Plante
“ How would you like a job where when you made a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo and yell at you that you suck!” The eldest of 11 children, Joseph Jacques Omer Plante, was born on January 17, 1929 on a farm near Notre-Dame-du-Mont Carmel, in Maurice Quebec. Plante began playing hockey at three ....he had no skates, he used a tennis ball instead of a puck and his stick was carved from a tree root by his father. His father also made his first set of goalie pads by stuffing potato sacks and reinforcing them with wooden panels. Growing up Plante had asthma and because of this he was unable to skate for long periods of time so he decided to take up goaltending. His passion for hockey continued and in 1936 at the age of seven he received his first goaltender’s stick for Christmas.
At the age of 12, while watching his school hockey team practice, the coach ordered the goaltender off the ice and Plante asked if he could replace him. Because there was no other goalie available the coach let him, and even though he was younger than the other players it became very apparent that Plante could hold his …show more content…
In 837 NHL games, Plante won 435, lost 247 and tied 145. 82. He was also one of only 12 men who were members of all five Stanley Cup winning teams between 1956 and 1960 and actually won a total of 6 in his career. In 1961-62, Plante became the first-ever goalie to earn both the Vézina and Hart Trophy as the league’s top goaltender and MVP in the same season and would go a on to win a record seven Vezina trophies. He was a seven time All Star, his lifetime GAA of 2.37 is almost as amazing as his 82 shutouts. In 1978, the first year he was eligible, “ Jake the Snake” was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. Also, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League honours him by recognizing its top goalie as the Jacques Plante trophy
“ How would you like a job where when you made a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo and yell at you that you suck!” The eldest of 11 children, Joseph Jacques Omer Plante, was born on January 17, 1929 on a farm near Notre-Dame-du-Mont Carmel, in Maurice Quebec. Plante began playing hockey at three ....he had no skates, he used a tennis ball instead of a puck and his stick was carved from a tree root by his father. His father also made his first set of goalie pads by stuffing potato sacks and reinforcing them with wooden panels. Growing up Plante had asthma and because of this he was unable to skate for long periods of time so he decided to take up goaltending. His passion for hockey continued and in 1936 at the age of seven he received his first goaltender’s stick for Christmas.
At the age of 12, while watching his school hockey team practice, the coach ordered the goaltender off the ice and Plante asked if he could replace him. Because there was no other goalie available the coach let him, and even though he was younger than the other players it became very apparent that Plante could hold his …show more content…
In 837 NHL games, Plante won 435, lost 247 and tied 145. 82. He was also one of only 12 men who were members of all five Stanley Cup winning teams between 1956 and 1960 and actually won a total of 6 in his career. In 1961-62, Plante became the first-ever goalie to earn both the Vézina and Hart Trophy as the league’s top goaltender and MVP in the same season and would go a on to win a record seven Vezina trophies. He was a seven time All Star, his lifetime GAA of 2.37 is almost as amazing as his 82 shutouts. In 1978, the first year he was eligible, “ Jake the Snake” was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. Also, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League honours him by recognizing its top goalie as the Jacques Plante trophy