June 4, 1963: Jacques Plante Is Traded for Gump Worsley

Jacques Plante

June 4, 1963: Jacques Plante, at this point possibly the greatest goaltender in NHL history, is traded by the Montreal Canadiens to the New York Rangers, with Don Marshall and Phil Goyette. The Rangers send the Habs their own starting goalie, Lorne "Gump" Worsley, plus Dave Balon, Leon Rochefort and Len Ronson.

With Montreal, Plante was a member of 6 Stanley Cup winners, including 5 in a row. Marshall also played on the 5 straight champs of 1956-60. Goyette played on the last 4 of them. With New York, they won nothing.

Plante retired in 1965, went to work for the Molson Brewery, owners of the Canadiens, and then came out of retirement in 1968, pairing with former Chicago Black Hawks star Glenn Hall to give the St. Louis Blues 2 of the greatest goalies of all time. Plante was then 38, and Hall was 35, but both of them, and the other veterans that the Blues had assembled, had enough left to help the team reach 3 straight Stanley Cup Finals (including the year before Plante got there), thought they were swept all 3 times, including in '68 and '69 by Worsley and the Canadiens.

Plante shockingly played 3 seasons with the Canadiens' arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs (at a time when the Habs had, arguably, the Leafs' greatest player ever, Frank Mahovlich), and 8 games for the Boston Bruins, before closing his career in 1974-75 with the Edmonton Oilers in the World Hockey Association.

He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1985, he was named the Canadiens' all-time goaltender at their 75th Anniversary celebration. He died of cancer early the next year. In 1995, they retired Number 1 for him, and only for him, despite having a few great goalies before him wearing it, and also having other numbers retired for 2 different men.

With Montreal, Worsley would go on to win 4 Stanley Cups before moving on, and closed his career with the Minnesota North Stars in 1974. Plante wasn't the 1st goalie to play with a facemask, but he did popularize it. Worsley wasn't quite the last one to play without a mask, but close. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980, and lived until 2007.

Gump Worsley

Balon would win 2 Cups, before returning to the Rangers, and became an original 1967-68 North Star. Rochefort would win 1 Cup, and became an original 1967-68 Philadelphia Flyer. Ronson got stuck in the minors, his only NHL appearances being 13 games for the 1961 Rangers and 5 for the 1969 Oakland Seals. With New York, they won nothing.

In fact, while with the Rangers, Worsley was asked which team gave him the most trouble. He said, "The Rangers." Successful in Montreal, he opened a restaurant, and named a sandwich "The Ranger." It was a chicken sandwich.

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June 4, 1963 was a Tuesday. This was also the day that the film The Nutty Professor premiered. I have a separate entry for that event.

All-Pro offensive tackle Jim Lachey and NBA All-Star Xavier McDaniel were born. And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Steve Barber -- his arm apparently neither sore nor a little stiff -- outpitched Ralph Terry. John "Boog" Powell hit a home run. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3. Mickey Mantle had a home run and a single; otherwise, the Yankees got just 3 hits.

* The New York Mets lost to the Milwaukee Braves, 3-2 at the Polo Grounds. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4.

* The Washington Senators beat the Boston Red Sox, 1-0 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. Tom Cheney pitched a 5-hit shutout to outpitch Earl Wilson. The only run of the game came on a home run by Don Lock in the bottom of the 6th. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 3-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Willie Mays went 1-for-4. Willie McCovey appeared as a pinch-hitter, and struck out.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-0 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Jim Perry pitched a 4-hit shutout. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-3.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Colt .45s, 2-1 at Colt Stadium in Houston. This was a no-frills temporary facility to be used by the expansion franchise in the 1962, '63 and '64 seasons, after which they moved to the Astrodome for the 1965 season, changing their name to the Houston Astros.

Being completely open to the elements, Colt Stadium had problems with heat, mosquitoes, and even snakes, which became a bigger problem when the Astros kept using it as a practice facility after the Astrodome opened, until it was finally demolished in 1971. Sandy Koufax, who did not appear in this game, remarked on the size of the mosquitoes, calling them "twin-engine jobs."

* And the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels were groundsharing while waiting for their stadium in Anaheim to be built. Dan Osinski pitched a 3-hit shutout, outpitching Gary Peters. The only run of the game came in the bottom of the 2nd, when Lee Thomas singled Félix Torres home.

* The Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader 2 days later. The Reds swept, 7-5 and 10-5. Over the 2 games, Frank Robinson went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs, 2 walks, and 3 RBIs, rookie Pete Rose went 5-for-9 with a walk, and Roberto Clemente went 2-for-8.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals were not scheduled.