Jacques Plante

With hockey playoffs upcoming, I thought we should give a shout out to Jacques Plante, the inventor of hockey's goalie mask. Yes, thanks to Jason, goalie masks have become a cultural icon in America, but Plante himself was a bit of an icon. He is considered to be one of the greatest goaltenders of all-time, and his hobbies were apparently knitting and reading. This, of course, didn't endear him to his redneck coach, Toe Blake, who eventually demanded the Canadians trade Plante - even after he helped the team win five Stanley Cups. Granted, Plante, who had asthma, was starting to miss a lot of games and actually retired just a couple years later. But, much like Jason, he wasn't through. After the league expanded, he came out after three years on the sidelines to become an all-star goalie again-after the age of 40.

During his first his first retirement Plante worked as a sales rep for Molson. Here's tippin' one to ya' Jacques.

Ralph