By: HISTORY.com Editors

1959

Montreal’s Jacques Plante becomes first NHL goaltender to wear facemask

Published: November 03, 2021Last Updated: May 27, 2025

On November 1, 1959, the day after Halloween, Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens revolutionizes hockey by donning a facemask, the first NHL goaltender to do so in a regular-season game. Plante wears the custom-made fiberglas mask after suffering a badly cut nose and lip on a first-period shot by the New York Rangers' Andy Bathgate. The Canadiens win, 3-1, and Plante decides to use the facemask regularly.

"It's the coming thing in the game," said Montreal coach Toe Blake. "The time will come when they'll have an even better mask than Plante's and it'll be standard equipment for goalies."

Plante, in his seventh season in the NHL, had the mask made after he suffered fractured cheekbones in games. A Montreal hospital made a skin-tight plaster mold of his face, then turned it over to experts to construct the mask. Before he used the mask in a regular-season game, Plante tried it in practices and exhibitions.

In 1930, goaltender Clint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons used a protective cover over his nose and part of his face. But it obscured his vision on low shots, forcing him to abandon the crude shield, according to the Pro Hockey Hall of Fame website.

True to Blake's prediction, masks for goaltenders became standard equipment. The last goaltender to not wear one was the Pittsburgh Penguins' Andy Brown in 1974.

Plante, one of the best goaltenders in NHL history, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. He died in 1986.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on November 1st

1512

Sistine Chapel ceiling opens to public

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, one of Italian artist Michelangelo’s finest works, is exhibited to the public for the first time.

1:58m read

1755

Earthquake takes heavy toll on Lisbon

A devastating earthquake hits Lisbon, Portugal, killing as many as 50,000 people, on November 1, 1755. The city was virtually rebuilt from scratch following the widespread destruction. Lisbon was Portugal’s capital and largest city during the prosperous 18th century, when diamonds and gold from the Portuguese colony in Brazil made many in the country wealthy. […]

1:58m read

1765

Stamp Act goes into effect in the American colonies

In the face of widespread opposition in the American colonies, the Stamp Act goes into effect. The taxation measure is designed to raise revenue for British military operations in America. Defense of the American colonies in the French and Indian War (1754-63) and Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763-64) were costly affairs for Great Britain, and Prime Minister […]

2:16m read

1777

John Paul Jones sets sail

On November 1, 1777, the USS Ranger, with a crew of 140 men under the command of John Paul Jones, leaves Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for the naval port at Brest, France, where it will stop before heading toward the Irish Sea to begin raids on British warships. This was the first mission of its kind […]

2:14m read

1800

John Adams moves into White House

On November 1, 1800, President John Adams, in the last year of his only term as president, moved into the newly constructed President’s House, the original name for what is known today as the White House. Adams had been living in temporary digs at Tunnicliffe’s City Hotel near the half-finished Capitol building since June 1800, […]

2:08m read

1861

George McClellan replaces Winfield Scott

On November 1, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln names George Brinton McClellan general in chief of the Union army, replacing the aged and infirm Winfield Scott. In just six months, McClellan had gone from commander of the Ohio volunteers to the head of the Union army. McClellan, a Pennsylvania native, graduated from West Point second in […]

2:50m read

1911

World’s first aerial bomb is dropped over Libya

On November 1, 1911, Italian army lieutenant Giulio Gavotti, while flying over Libya, tosses three grenades out of his plane over a Turkish camp, effectively dropping the world’s first aerial bomb. Just eight years after the Wright brothers in America had accomplished the world’s first flight, the Kingdom of Italy sent several aircraft into Libya, […]

1:24m read

1924

Legendary western lawman is murdered

On November 1, 1924, William Tilghman is murdered by a corrupt Prohibition agent who resented Tilghman’s refusal to ignore local bootlegging operations. Tilghman, one of the famous marshals who enacted law and order in the West, was 71 years old. Known to both friends and enemies as “Uncle Billy,” Tilghman was one of the most […]

2:20m read

1935

Palestinian-American public intellectual Edward Said is born

On November 1, 1935, Edward Said, the eminent Palestinian-American public intellectual and the father of postcolonial studies, is born. Said was born in Jerusalem, then part of the British Mandate of Palestine. He was born into a wealthy Christian Arab family, and grew up in Jerusalem and Cairo before moving to the United States to […]

1:42m read

1945

The first issue of “Ebony” magazine is published

The first issue of Ebony magazine—featuring profiles of writer Richard Wright and jazz singer Hazel Scott, and stories about African Americans in publishing, the color line in Brazil and a sale of African art in Philadelphia—is published on November 1, 1945. The monthly magazine chronicles Black life in America, including the fight for civil rights […]

2:22m read

1946

First NBA game played

On November 1, 1946, the New York Knickerbockers beat the Toronto Huskies in the first NBA game, 68-66. The Knickerbockers are led by guard Leo Gottlieb, who scored 14 points in the game played before 7,090 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Although they lost to the Knickerbockers (now known as the Knicks), the Huskies had the […]

1950

An assassination attempt threatens President Harry S. Truman

On November 1, 1950, Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate President Harry S. Truman at the Blair House in Washington, D.C. Truman escaped unscathed. In the autumn of 1950, the White House was being renovated and President Truman and his family were living in the nearby Blair House on Pennsylvania Avenue. On the […]

1:38m read

1952

United States tests first hydrogen bomb

The United States detonates the world’s first thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb, on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific. The test gave the United States a short-lived advantage in the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. Following the successful Soviet detonation of an atomic device in September 1949, the United States accelerated its program to […]

0:58m read

1993

European Union officially established

The Maastricht Treaty comes into effect on November 1, 1993, formally establishing the European Union (EU). The treaty was drafted in 1991 by delegates from the European Community meeting at Maastricht in the Netherlands and signed in 1992. The agreement called for a strengthened European parliament, the creation of a central European bank, and common […]

0:58m read

Sports

31 videos

Sports

8 College Football Coaches Who Changed the Game

From Yale's Walter Camp and Oklahoma's Bud Wilkinson to Miami's Jimmy Johnson and Alabama's Nick Saban, these trailblazers left their marks.

Sports

Why Is ‘The Catch’ Called Baseball’s Most Perfect Play?

In 1954, the Giants' Willie Mays made a catch that wowed the nation—and became a legendary moment in baseball history.

Sports

How Jim Thorpe Became America’s First Multi-Sport Star

The Native American was an Olympic medalist, NFL standout and a MLB player — he even won a ballroom dancing championship.

About the author

HISTORY.com Editors

HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Christian Zapata, Cristiana Lombardo and Adrienne Donica.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

Citation Information

Article Title: Montreal’s Jacques Plante becomes first NHL goaltender to wear facemask
Author: HISTORY.com Editors
Website Name: History
URL: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-1/nhl-innovations-facemask-goaltender-jacques-plante

Date Accessed: October 29, 2026
Publisher: A&E Television Networks
Last Updated: May 27, 2025
Original Published Date: November 03, 2021

Montreal’s Jacques Plante becomes first NHL goaltender to wear facemask

Related

Sports

8 College Football Coaches Who Changed the Game

Why Is ‘The Catch’ Called Baseball’s Most Perfect Play?

How Jim Thorpe Became America’s First Multi-Sport Star

About the author

Fact Check

Citation Information