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.

February 22, 1964: The Andy Bathgate Trade

February 22, 1964: The New York Rangers trade Andy Bathgate and Don McKenney to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Arnie Brown, Bill Collins, Dick Duff, Bob Nevin and Rod Seiling.

A 1959 cover of Sports Illustrated called Bathgate a "Hockey Hero." That year, Bathgate was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player. By 1964, he was already considered by some observers to be the greatest player in Ranger history.

And they got rid of him. And, that season, he helped the Leafs to win their 3rd straight Stanley Cup, something he'd never won as a Ranger. In addition, McKenney had played 2 years with the Rangers, and before that 9 with the Boston Bruins, including 2 trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, but he hadn't won before, either. Now, both had won the Cup with head coach-general manager George "Punch" Imlach's Maple Leafs.

So, dumb trade for the Rangers? Maybe not. Nevin played 8 seasons for them, scoring 168 goals. Seiling played 11 years for them, and became one of the top defensemen in the game. In 1972, he helped the Rangers reach the Finals, and was also a member of Team Canada in the "Summit Series" against the Soviet Union.

Still, there can be no question that the Leafs got the better of the deal. This was the kind of deal that got the Leafs 10 Stanley Cups in 26 seasons from 1942 to 1967. It was also the kind of deal that prevented the Rangers from winning the Cup for 54 seasons, from 1940 to 1994. (As for the Leafs after 1967, well, that's another story.)

The Leafs didn't keep Bathgate long, trading him to the Detroit Red Wings in 1965. In 1966, he reached the Finals again, but the Wings lost. In 1978, he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1998, The Hockey News ranked him 58th on their list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. In 2009, the Rangers retired his Number 9. That same year, in their book 100 Ranger Greats, authors Russ Cohen, John Halligan and Adam Raider ranked him 8th on their list. He died in 2016. In 2017, he was named to the NHL's 100th Anniversary 100 Greatest Players.

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February 22, 1964 was a Saturday. The NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The Leafs beat the Rangers, 5-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens. The trade was made that morning, and Bathgate played for the Leafs that night, assisting on a goal by Red Kelly.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

Baseball and football were out of season. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 125-119 in overtime at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* The St. Louis Hawks beat the Boston Celtics, 95-88 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

* And the Cincinnati Royals beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 107-105 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Oscar Robertson scored 32 points. Jerry West scored 43 points in defeat.

And in English soccer, a North London Derby was played at White Hart Lane, home of Tottenham Hotspur. "Spurs" beat Arsenal, 3-1.