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This Day in Hockey History

Denis Brodeur / National Hockey League / Getty

1924 - The Bruins are born

Grocery store investor Charles Adams pays the NHL $15,000 for the right to own the NHL's first American-based team, and the Boston Bruins are founded.

Ninety years later, the Bruins have won six Stanley Cups, two Presidents' Trophies, and 25 division championships, producing 47 Hall of Fame players and seven Hall of Fame builders, including Adams.

1959 - Jacques Plante changes the game forever

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante dons a mask during a game against the New York Rangers, becoming the first netminder in NHL history to wear one regularly.

Plante is struck in the face by an Andy Bathgate shot in the first period, forcing Plante to the locker room. The game is delayed for 21 minutes while trainers attend to him.

Plante returns to the bench and tells head coach Toe Blake that he's ready to re-enter the game, but only if he wears his mask. Plante had previously only worn it in practice.

He continues to wear it in subsequent games, and other goaltenders follow suit. The last netminder to play without a mask is Andy Brown of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who plays his final NHL game in 1974.

While Clint Benedict is the first goaltender to wear a mask in a game (doing so twice in 1930), Plante is the first to sport one on a regular basis.

Birthdays

1932 - Al Arbour
1969 - Tie Domi
1972 - Glen Murray
1983 - Matt Moulson
1989 - Zac Dalpe
1991 - Tyler Pitlick

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