Edmonton Oilers Auction 2005
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/16/2005
Clint Benedict was the first NHL goalie to wear a mask but found he couldn't play with it on. Decades later, Montreal Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante refused to take to the ice without one and forever changed the way the game was played. Plante crafted his own masks throughout the Sixties and pro netminders were quick to adopt his famous pretzel-style bar mask and later designs. Jacques continued to make improvements and by the time he joined the Leafs in 1970, he was wearing the sleek full-face mask made famous a few years later by Toronto teammate Bernie Parent when he performed between the pipes in Philadelphia. This heavy custom-molded white fiberglass mask was produced in the early-1970's by Jacques Plante's Fibrosport company and worn during the 1974-75 WHA season while with the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association. Jacques played in 40 matches that season, the final campaign of a long and accolade-filled career. The heavy white-painted mask shows great wear and still has the red maple leaf decal at the forehead. All interior padding is intact as are the attached back plate and original straps. A gold decal inside reads "Mme Vve Jacques Plante" with a Swiss address. Jacques Plante believed this version of his Fibrosport mask was so good and such a good design, he got an insurance on it for 1million dollars against goalies getting injured! From the collection of a Plante family friend who received the mask as a gift from Jacques. This story is confirmed and detailed in a signed letter of provenance from Mrs. Plante, also included with this incredible and important mask. Without a doubt, an amazing acquisition and certainly worthy of prominent display in hockey's Hall of Fame in Toronto. The first and only actual Jacques Plante game used goalie mask to ever be offered for public auction.
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