#19 - Jacques Plante

Jacques Plante (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #19)

Adjusted Stats

1952-1953 Mtl*      4 GP, 2-0-1, .625 win%, 211 min, 6 GA, 1.71 GAA
1953-1954 Mtl        20 GP, 8-6-6, .550 win%, 1195 min, 41 GA, 2.03 GAA
1954-1955 Mtl        61 GP, 39-14-8, .705 win%, 3608 min, 157 GA, 2.61 GAA
1955-1956 Mtl*      75 GP, 49-14-12, .733 win%, 4498 min, 169 GA, 2.26 GAA
1956-1957 Mtl*      71 GP, 36-21-14, .606 win%, 4287 min, 163 GA, 2.29 GAA
1957-1958 Mtl*      67 GP, 40-16-9, .685 win%, 3966 min, 153 GA, 2.32 GAA
1958-1959 Mtl*      78 GP, 45-19-15, .665 win%, 4686 min, 179 GA, 2.29 GAA
1959-1960 Mtl*      81 GP, 47-20-14, .667 win%, 4850 min, 214 GA, 2.64 GAA
1960-1961 Mtl        47 GP, 27-13-7, .649 win%, 2811 min, 134 GA, 2.87 GAA
1961-1962 Mtl        82 GP, 49-16-16, .704 win%, 4920 min, 199 GA, 2.42 GAA
1962-1963 Mtl        66 GP, 26-16-22, .578 win%, 3889 min, 167 GA, 2.58 GAA
1963-1964 NYR      76 GP, 26-42-8, .395 win%, 4569 min, 286 GA, 3.75 GAA
1964-1965 NYR      39 GP, 12-20-6, .395 win%, 2270 min, 137 GA, 3.61 GAA
1968-1969 Stl         40 GP, 19-13-6, .579 win%, 2308 min, 78 GA, 2.03 GAA
1969-1970 Stl         35 GP, 19-10-5, .632 win%, 1984 min, 77 GA, 2.31 GAA
1970-1971 Tor       42 GP, 25-12-4, .659 win%, 2448 min, 76 GA, 1.85 GAA
1971-1972 Tor       36 GP, 17-14-5, .542 win%, 2066 min, 91 GA, 2.63 GAA
1972-1973 Tor/Bos 42 GP, 16-16-6, .500 win%, 2310 min, 102 GA, 2.64 GAA

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1952-1953 Mtl*      4 GP, 3-1, .750 win%, 240 min, 7 GA, 1.79 GAA
1953-1954 Mtl        8 GP, 5-3, .625 win%, 480 min, 20 GA, 2.44 GAA
1954-1955 Mtl        12 GP, 6-3, .667 win%, 639 min, 37 GA, 3.44 GAA
1955-1956 Mtl*      10 GP, 8-2, .800 win%, 600 min, 18 GA, 1.81 GAA
1956-1957 Mtl*      10 GP, 8-2, .800 win%, 616 min, 17 GA, 1.66 GAA
1957-1958 Mtl*      10 GP, 8-2, .800 win%, 618 min, 18 GA, 1.76 GAA
1958-1959 Mtl*      11 GP, 8-3, .727 win%, 670 min, 24 GA, 2.18 GAA
1959-1960 Mtl*      8 GP, 8-0, 1.000 win%, 489 min, 11 GA, 1.40 GAA
1960-1961 Mtl        6 GP, 2-4, .333 win%, 412 min, 18 GA, 2.62 GAA
1961-1962 Mtl        6 GP, 2-4, .333 win%, 360 min, 19 GA, 3.14 GAA
1962-1963 Mtl        5 GP, 1-4, .200 win%, 300 min, 14 GA, 2.77 GAA
1968-1969 Stl         10 GP, 8-2, .800 win%, 589 min, 14 GA, 1.41 GAA
1969-1970 Stl         6 GP, 4-1, .800 win%, 324 min, 7 GA, 1.37 GAA
1970-1971 Tor       3 GP, 0-2, .000 win%, 134 min, 6 GA, 2.88 GAA
1971-1972 Tor       1 GP, 0-1, .000 win%, 60 min, 5 GA, 4.66 GAA
1972-1973 Bos       2 GP, 0-2, .000 win%, 120 min, 9 GA, 4.43 GAA

Career - 962 GP, 502-282-164, .616 win%, 56876 min, 2429 GA, 2.56 GAA
Career-Highs - 82 GP (61-62); 49 wins (55-56); .733 win% (55-56); 4920 min (61-62); 1.85 GAA (70-71)
Avg. (17 seasons) - 56 GP, 29-17-10, .616 win%, 3333 min, 143 GA, 2.56 GAA
Peak Avg. (54-62) - 70 GP, 42-17-12, .676 win%, 4203 min, 171 GA, 2.44 GAA, 5 Cups

Playoff Career - 112 GP, 71-36, .664 win%, 6651 min, 244 GA, 2.20 GAA
Playoff-Highs - 8 wins (multiple times); 1.000 win% (59-60); 1.37 GAA (69-70)

Accolades - 1 MVP award, 7 Vezina Trophies
All-Star Teams - 3-time 1st-team, 4-time 2nd-team
6-time Stanley Cup Champion

I went back and forth many times on who to rank as the third greatest goaltender of all-time (behind Roy and Brodeur): Jacques Plante or Glenn Hall. On the surface of things, it would appear to be no contest: Plante had seven Vezina trophies and six Stanley Cups. However, the Vezina trophy until the 1980s was for the goaltender whose team gave up the fewest goals (the equivalent of today's Jennings trophy), not the goaltender judged to be the best in the league. For that we have 1st-team all-star selections, and in that regard, Hall may have in fact been the superior regular-season goaltender.

But that's largely because Glenn Hall was the last line of defense on a mediocre Blackhawks team, while Plante was the backbone of a dynasty in Montreal. It's the Martin Brodeur argument all over again, and once again, I point to the fact that it is occasionally difficult to be a great "good-team" goaltender. Plante's 8-year run from 1954 to 1962, which coincided with the Canadiens' winning five straight Stanley Cup championships, is pretty much as good as it gets for a goaltender: an average of 42 wins a season, a staggering .676 win%, and three times selected as the league's best goalie.

Interestingly, Plante's best season was one that came after the Habs' dynasty years, 1961-1962, in which he astonishingly played every minute of every game (although Glenn Hall fans may be saying: so?) and won the equivalent of 49 games, with a sparkling win% of .704. It was good enough to take home MVP honors, making him the only goaltender to date who had ever won that award (and one of only two to ever win, the other being Dominik Hasek).

Yet what Plante may best be known for is his innovation with the game. He introduced the idea of the goalie mask to the NHL and perfected a design for his own (how goaltenders played in an era that included Bobby Hull without a mask is still beyond belief). But this seemingly obvious invention wasn't Plante's only contribution to the art of goaltending. He was a student of the game and was one of the first goalies to study angles and shooter tendencies. And Plante became one of the first goalies to introduce puckhandling to the goaltending repertoire...paving the way for later masters like Billy Smith, Martin Brodeur and Ed Belfour.

At first, it seemed as if Plante's storied career would end on a sour note, as he retired after two disastrous seasons with a terrible New York Rangers team, adding fuel to the argument that Plante's success was solely due to the Canadiens' incredible team defence. Yet he emerged out of retirement a few years later to form an excellent goaltending tandem with fellow legend Glenn Hall, leading the expansion St. Louis Blues to several Stanley Cup finals, and then posting a staggering 1.85 GAA at the age of forty-two with the Toronto Maple Leafs, earning NHL 2nd-team honors. No goaltender has been that successful so late in his career, with the possible exception of Hall.

So the triumverate of Plante, Hall and Sawchuk can be shuffled any which way...I give the edge to Plante for his innovation, his incredible win-loss record, and his clutch 71-36 playoff mark. Yes, Plante played for a dominant team, but so did fellow greats Brodeur and Ken Dryden. What all three have in common is that they took advantage of the situation and took their teams to the next level with elite play at their position.