Piante plays for the Montreal Royals of the Quebec Senior League, but practises daily with the Montreal Canadiens. He plays baseball for the Lévis league.
Maurice Richard scores his 200th career goal.
Boxer Marcel Cerdan dies in an airplane crash. He has won 103 of his 107 fights. 1949
Canada becomes a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with its mandate of defending the free world.
The U.S.S.R. carries out its first atomic bomb tests.
Germany splits into the westernaligned Federai Republic and the Democratic Republic, part of the Soviet block.
Mao Tse-Tung proclaims the People’s Republic of China.
In South Africa, apartheid (racial segregation that deprives the majority black population of their basic rights) becomes officiai policy.
1950
Bill Durnan, goalkeeper for the Canadiens, wins his sixth Vézina Trophy. At the close of the season, Durnan retires, giving up his place to Gerry McNeil.
1950
Acting under the aegis of the UN, the United States moves into Korea after South Korea is attacked by communist North Korea.
Italian Nino Farina wins the first Grand Prix auto race.
1951
Michel, the Plantes’ first son, is born.
1952
Jacques Piante replaces Gerry McNeil in the Habs’ nets when the latter sustains a fractured cheekbone. Jacques only lets in 4 goals in 3 games. Coach Dick Irvin Senior forbids his backup goalie to stand out from his teammates by wearing his lucky tuque during
1952
Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Dwight Eisenhower is elected President of the United States.
French-language television is inau-gurated in Quebec.
Elmer Lach of the Canadiens tops the NHL scoring standings.
Gold medallist Emil Zatopek of Czechoslovakia astonishes the world at the Helsinki Summer Olympics when he is the first runner to win all three track and field events at one Olympics.
1953
Jacques Piante plays his first playoff game with the Canadiens, against the Black Hawks in Chicago, winning with a 3–0 shutout. He also tends net in the game that eliminates Chicago in the semifinals. 1953
Nikita Khrushchev succeeds Joseph Stalin as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.
The Korean War ends.
Jacques Plante’s name is engraved on the Stanley Cup for the first time.
Jean Béliveau signs with the Montreal Canadiens.
1953–1954 season
When Jacques plays for the AHL Buffalo Bisons, the Canadiens’ American farm-club, reporters dub him “Jake the Snake.†He is called up to the Canadiens in February, plays 17 games, then is offered the position of number 1 goalie. He undergoes corrective surgery to his left wrist. 1954
War in Indochina: France is forced to evacuate from its Vietnamese colony after a decisive communist victory at Diên Biên Phu. The Geneva Convention divides the country into North and South Vietnam.
England’s Roger Bannister runs a mile in less than four minutes.
1954–1955 season
Jacques Plante’s first complete season in the NHL. His second son Richard is born.
1955
The Warsaw Pact unites the Eastern bloc countries militarily.
Hockey fans riot in Montreal on St. Patrick’s Day after Maurice Richard’s suspension by NHL president, Clarence Campbell.
Marilyn Bell swims across Lake Ontario: 32 miles in 21 hours.
1955–1956 season
The “Flying Frenchmen†of the Canadiens, coached by Toe Blake, begin a five-year reign during which they consistently leave their adversaries in the dust. Jacques Plante wins his first Vézina Trophy and his first fully accredited Stanley Cup. 1956
Egyptian President Nasser takes control of the Suez Canal, resulting in international hostilities; a UN force is sent to protect the canal and ease the British and French out of Egypt.
Jean Béliveau sets an NHL record for the highest number of goals scored by a centre.
The popular rising in Hungary is savagely put down by Soviet troops.
Austrian Toni Sailer sweeps the gold medals in the men’s downhill skiing at the Cortina Winter Olympics.
Morocco and Tunisia become independent from France.
1956–1957 season
Jacques Piante suffers violent asthma attacks. He wins his second Vézina Trophy and his second full-season Stanley Cup. In the summer, he wins the batting championship of the Quebec Senior Baseball League. He also writes a sports column for La Voix, a Shawinigan newspaper.
1957
John Diefenbaker of the Progressive Conservative Party is elected prime minister of Canada. The European Economie Community is created, with a common parliament and economie policies.
The Sputnik satellite is successfully launched by the U.S.S.R.
Argentinian Juan-Manuel Fangio wins his fifth title in Grand Prix automobile racing.
Mickey Mantle wins the American Baseball League (ABL) Triple Crown (best batting average, most home runs, and highest number of points in the season).
Canadian diplomat and former minister of external affairs, Lester B. Pearson, wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in resolving the Suez Crisis.
In Montreal, five hundred people demonstrate against the naming of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel.
1957–1958 season
Jacques Piante wins his third consecutive Vézina Trophy and the Stanley Cup for the Habs. Bill Burchmore, of Fiberglas Canada and an ardent hockey fan, suggests moulding a protective mask to Jacques Plante’s face.
1958
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for space exploration is established in the United States.
General Charles De Gaulle is elected President of France.
Maurice Richard is the first NHL player to score 500 career goals.
Arnold Palmer wins the Masters Golf Tournament.
1958–1959 season
Jacques Piante wins his fourth consecutive Vézina Trophy and the Stanley Cup. In the summer, he allows a face mould to be taken, and the first custom-made fibre glass goalie’s mask is cast.
1959
In Quebec, Premier Maurice Duplessis dies in office.
The St. Lawrence Seaway is opened by Canada and the United States.
In the U.S., the American Football League (AFL) is created, giving competition to the NFL, established in 1920.
Fidel Castro leads a communist revolution in Cuba.
1959–1960 season
On November 1, Jacques Piante receives a serious facial injury in a game against the Rangers in New York. He returns to the ice wearing the mask for the first time in a regular game. Soon after, he becomes Burchmore’s partner as exclusive manufacturer of the prototype goalie’s mask. He wins his fifth consecutive Vézina Trophy, and the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup.
1960
In Quebec, Jean Lesage’s Liberal Party gains power; the Quiet Revolution starts to transform Quebec society.
Amid gangster wars in Montreal, Mayor Jean Drapeau calls on Scotland Yard and the French police for help.
Democrat John F. Kennedy is elected president of the U.S.A.
Heavyweight boxer Cassius Clay wins the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Rome. The state of Louisiana is ordered by the U.S. government to integrate its public schools.
1960–1961 season
Piante, hampered by pain in his left knee, is sent down to the Montreal Royals of the Quebec Senior League. After a successful operation, he follows a rigorous training program during the summer. He also plays golf and renovates the family home in Laval-des-Rapides
1961
The New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP) is founded, with Tommy Douglas as its leader.
T
he United States enters the Vietnam War.
The East German government builds the Berlin Wall.
Rocket Richard retires from professional hockey.
Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin is the first human being to orbit the Earth.
Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks demonstrates a slapshot that reaches a speed of 195 km. an hour.
In Squaw Valley, Ottawa skier Ann Heggtveit wins the Olympic gold meda! in slalom; Canadian figure skaters Barbara and Paul Wagner win the gold medal for pairs.
1961–1962 season
Jacques Piante gives his best individual performance. He wins his sixth Vézina Trophy, and the Hart Trophy for most valuable player.
Jean Béliveau is named captain of the Montreal Canadiens.
In baseball, New York Yankee Roger Maris breaks Babe Ruth’s 1927 record by hitting 61 home runs in a season.
Canadian figure skater Don Jackson wins the gold medal at the World Championships. 1962
American astronaut John Glenn circles the earth in a spaceship.
The Cuban missile crisis brings heated tension to the Cold War. The U.S.S.R. backs down from using Cuba as a nuclear missile base, inaugurating the period of détente between the two world powers.
After a bitter struggle, Algeria becomes independent from France.
1962–1963 season
After a tough season, Jacques Piante is traded to the Rangers and moves to New York without his family. Lorne “Gump†Worsley takes over as the Habs’ number 1 goaltender.
1963
Liberal “Mike†Pearson is elected prime minister of Canada.
John F. Kennedy, president of the United States, is assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
Jim Clark wins the world Grand Prix title for the first time.
The separatist Rassemblement pour l’indépendence nationale (RIN) is established as a legitimate politicai party in Quebec.
Mickey Mantle hits a 183-metre home run for the Yankees.
Hydro-Québec is nationalized.
1963–1964 season
Jacques Piante feels ill at ease in his new job; he suffers from homesickness. In summer, he plays for the Montreal Nationals in a newly revived lacrosse league. He writes weekly columns for the newspapers Le Samedi and Le Nouveau Samedi, and for the magazine, Sports. 1964
Under John Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon Johnson, the American war in Vietnam escalates.
In the U.S.S.R., Nikita Khrushchev is stripped of his office and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev and Aleksei Kosygin.
At the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, the Canadian bobsled team wins the gold medal for the first time.
1964–1965 season
Jacques Piante is sent down to the Baltimore Clippers of the American Hockey League. At the end of the season, he announces that he is leaving: his wife is ailing, and he will undergo surgery on his right knee.
1965
The maple leaf flag is adopted in Canada.
In the United States, black activist Martin Luther King leads the March for Equality in the fight against racial segregation.
Jean Béliveau is the first winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player during the playoffs.
Sam Pollock becomes general manager of the Montreal Canadiens.
1965–1966 season
Jacques Piante starts his job as Molson Brewery representative. He plays lacrosse for the Caugh-nawaga Indians and participates in golf tournaments. He acts as television analyst during several Canadiens games. On December 15th, invited by Scotty Bowman, Jacques tends goal for the Junior Canadiens against the Russian National Team. He is named first star of the game, which the Russians lose 2–1. 1966
Daniel Johnson is elected Premier of Quebec for the Union Nationale Party.
The American Congress passes the Civil Rights Bill. Young Americans protest against the war in Vietnam; the years of flower power, peace, and love begin.
In China, the Cultural Revolution is launched by Mao Tse-Tung.
Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns sets a record for the highest number of career touchdowns in football.
Sandy Koufax, the great Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, retires from baseball.
1967
The NHL expands into six Eastern Conference teams (the originai NHL teams) and six new Western Conference teams (Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Oakland Seals).
Piante helps coach Bert Olmstead with goalie training at the Oakland Seals’ training camp.
Rogatien Vachon becomes Canadiens number 1 goaltender.
American Billie Jean King sweeps the major women’s tennis tities.
Canadian skier Nancy Greene wins the World Cup. 1967
Expo ‘67: the Montreal World’s Fair, during which Charles de Gaulle pronounces his famous “Vive le Québec libre!†speech.
The preliminary report of the Canadian Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism recommends bilingualism in federai services.
The Six Day War in the Middle East ends when Israel bombs Cairo.
“The Colonels†suspend democracy in Greece in a military coup.
1968–69 season
Jacques Piante signs with the St. Louis Blues under coach Scotty Bowman, dividing goaltending duties with fellow veteran Glenn Hall. He wins his 7th Vézina Trophy, beating Canadien Bill Durnan’s 1949 record.
1968
René Lévesque founds the Parti Québécois, proposing sovereigntyassociation with the rest of Canada.
Liberal Pierre Elliott Trudeau is elected prime minister of Canada.
Re-opening of the refurbished Montreal Forum, a transformation of the originai 1924 building.
Don Drysdale of the L.A. Dodgers pitches six consecutive no-hit games .
Cassius Clay is stripped of his heavyweight title for refusing to fight in Vietnam.
Nancy Greene wins the gold medal in giant slalom and the Silver in slalom at the Grenoble Winter Olympics. Martin Luther King, apostle of nonviolence, is assassinated in Memphis. Robert Kennedy is also assassinated during the presidential primaries. Republican Richard Nixon is elected president.
In May, student protests shake De Gaulle’s power in France.
In Czechoslovakia, the entry of Warsaw Pact tanks into Prague puts an end to Czech hopes of freedom from Soviet domination.
1969–1970 season
It is Jacques Plante’s second season with the St. Louis Blues.
1969
Conflict erupts in Quebec over Bill 63 on the use of English in the provincial education system.
Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins wins the scoring championship, the only defenceman to achieve this feat in NHL history.
Protests against the Vietnam War in the United States gather momentum.
The Montreal Expos begin to play at Jarry Park. Pitcher Claude Raymond is the first Canadian to play for the team.
Neil Armstrong is the first human being to walk on the moon.
Yasser Arafat becomes head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
1970
Jacques Piante is traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Fibrosport company in Magog, of which Jacques Piante is 51-percent-owner, begins mass production of the hockey mask. Jacques’ son Michel, twenty years old, takes over production operations.
Piante meets Raymonde Udrisard, who will become his second wife. 1970
In Quebec, the October Crisis occurs when the Front de Libération du Québec, a clandestine separatist group, kidnaps British diplomat James Cross and murders the provincial labour minister, Pierre Laporte. Prime Minister Trudeau implements the War Measures Act, temporarily suspending civil rights in Canada.
Charles de Gaulle dies in France.
Two new teams join the NHL: the Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres.
Ken Dryden begins
his nine-year reign as Canadiens goalie.
1971
The Jacques Piante Story, written by sportswriter Andy O’Brien in collaboration with Piante, is published.
1971
Premier Robert Bourassa asks for Quebec’s right to veto any changes to the Canadian constitution.
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