November 1, 1959: Jacques Plante Puts a Mask On

November 1, 1959: Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens, who'd been experimenting with a mask in practice. gets hit in the face with a puck shot by fellow future Hall-of-Famer Andy Bathgate in a game against the New York Rangers at the old Madison Square Garden.

"Jake the Snake" gets up, skates over to coach Hector "Toe" Blake, and tells him he's not going back out there without the mask. Blake, knowing how much Plante has meant to the Habs (they had won 4 straight Stanley Cups), relents. The Canadiens win, 3-1, and go on to win their 5th straight Cup.

Clint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons wore a crude leather facemask following his return from a broken nose, starting on February 20, 1930. He stopped after 5 games because the part covering his nose obscured his vision. Plante's version was better, and by the 1970s nearly every goalie wore one.

The last goalie to not wear a mask in an NHL game? A lot of people think it was former Ranger and Canadien Lorne "Gump" Worsley, who famously said, "My face is my mask." He did go without one until his last season, 1974, with the Minnesota North Stars.

But at the end of that season, on April 7, 1974, Andy Brown played without one for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was cut after the season, but played 3 more seasons, with the WHA's Indianapolis Racers, and still didn't wear a mask.

Now, goalies wear gaudily decorated helmets, and baseball catchers wear similarly-designed helmets rather than their old wire masks.

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November 1, 1959 was a Sunday. There were 2 other games in the NHL that day. The Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-3 at the Boston Garden. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 2-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

There were 2 games played in the NBA as well. The Boston Celtics beat the Cincinnati Royals, 124-109 at the Cincinnati Gardens. And the St. Louis Hawks beat the Minneapolis Lakers, 138-101 at the Minneapolis Armory.

The baseball season was over, but football was in full swing. These 6 NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the Green Bay Packers, 20-3 at Yankee Stadium. Alex Webster scored 2 touchdowns for the G-Men.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Redskins, 30-23 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Colts, 38-31 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Jim Brown rushed for 178 yards and 5 touchdowns.

* The Chicago Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 45-24 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Los Angeles Rams, 26-21 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* And the San Francisco 49ers beat the Detroit Lions, 33-7 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.