The 1959–60

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

season was the club's 51st

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

of play. The team had another outstanding season, placing first in the league and winning the Stanley Cup for the fifth consecutive season, and the 12th time in team history.

Regular season

On Sunday, November 1, 1959, at 3:06 of the first period,

Jacques Plante Joseph Jacques Omer Plante (; January 17, 1929 – February 27, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. During a career lasting from 1947 to 1975, he was considered to be one of the most important innovators in hockey. He played ...

was hit in the face by a shot fired by

Andy Bathgate Andrew James Bathgate (August 28, 1932 – February 26, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right wing who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Pittsbu ...

. Plante came back in the game wearing a mask (the second goaltender in NHL history to wear a mask after

Clint Benedict Clinton Stevenson "Praying Benny" Benedict (September 26, 1892 – November 12, 1976) was a Canadian professional lacrosse goalie, ice hockey goaltender who played for the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Maroons. He played on four Stanley Cup-win ...

) starting a trend where all NHL goaltenders today wear a mask.

Jacques Plante

The use of the goalie mask was Plante's most enduring contribution to the game, however, occurred as a result of an incident on November 1, 1959. He was hit in the face by a shot from

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

player

, needing to go to the dressing room for stitches. When he returned, he was wearing the crude home-made

goalie mask A goaltender mask, commonly referred to as a goalie mask, is a mask worn by goaltenders in a variety of sports to protect the head and face from injury from the ball or puck, as they constantly face incoming shots on goal. Some sports requiring th ...

that he'd been using in practices. His coach,

Toe Blake Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plant ...

, was livid, but he had no other goalie to call upon, and Plante refused to return to the goal unless he kept the mask. Blake agreed on the condition that Plante discard the mask when the cut healed. Only

Camille Henry Joseph Wilfred Camille "The Eel" Henry (January 31, 1933 – September 11, 1997) was a professional Canadian ice hockey left winger who played for the New York Rangers, the Chicago Black Hawks and the St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey Leagu ...

beat him in that game, which the Canadiens won 3–1. In the ensuing days Plante refused to discard the mask, and as the Canadiens continued to win, Blake became less obstinate. The unbeaten streak stretched to 18 games. Plante didn't wear the mask, at Blake's request, against Detroit on March 8, 1960. The Canadiens lost 3–0, and the mask returned for good the next night. Plante subsequently designed his own mask and masks for other goalies. Although Plante was ''not'' the first NHL goalie known to wear a facemask (

Montreal Maroons The Montreal Maroons (officially the Montreal Professional Hockey Club) were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935. They were the la ...

goaltender

had done so thirty years before), Plante introduced the mask as everyday equipment, which continues to this day.

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

Playoffs

The Canadiens placed first in the standings and met the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in the first round of the playoffs. The Canadiens swept the Hawks 4–0 to move on to the finals against Toronto.

Stanley Cup finals

Montreal swept the Maple Leafs, outscoring them 15–5, en route to being the first team since the 1952 Detroit Red Wings to go without a loss in the playoffs. After the series

Rocket Richard Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard (; ; August 4, 1921 – May 27, 2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL hist ...

retired. He went out with style, finishing with his 34th finals goal in game three. Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens ''Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0.''

Player statistics

Regular season

;Scoring ;Goaltending

Playoffs

;Scoring ;Goaltending

Awards and records

Transactions

References

Canadiens on Hockey Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:1959-60 Montreal Canadiens Season Stanley Cup championship seasons Montreal Canadiens seasons Mon Mon 1960 Stanley Cup 1950s in Montreal 1959 in Quebec 1960 in Quebec 1960s in Montreal

Regular season

Jacques Plante

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

Playoffs

Stanley Cup finals

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Transactions

See also

References