Michel Plasse
Michel Pierre Plasse ( born June 1, 1949 in Montreal, Quebec, † December 30, 2006 in Île du Pas, Quebec ) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender, who, from 1970 to 1982 for the St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Kansas City Scouts Pittsburgh Penguins, Quebec Nordiques Colorado Rockies and played in the National Hockey League.
Career
As a junior he played with the Drummondville Rangers QJHL. After good performances there, he was elected the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL Amateur Draft 1968 as the first player out.
After Montreal had some good goalkeepers in the squad, he began his professional career in the minor leagues. He played for the Cleveland Barons in the American Hockey League and for the Jacksonville Rockets in the Eastern Hockey League. 1970 gave the Canadiens him from the St. Louis Blues. Since there were two experienced goalkeeper with Glenn Hall and Ernie Wakely in goal, he only came to a game and was mostly in the Central Hockey League for the Kansas City Blues in use. Here he succeeded on 21 February 1971 as the first goalkeeper in professional hockey to score a goal. In the summer he returned to Montreal. Again, he was sent back to the AHL. With the Nova Scotia Voyageurs he could win the Calder Cup. From the 1972/73 season he was then one of the goalkeeper behind Ken Dryden. Without even a playoff game this season to play, he is led as a substitute goalkeeper as Stanley Cup winner. Even as this year paused it, it is not the breakthrough.
When NHL Expansion Draft 1974 it chose the Kansas City Scouts, but here he was just one of three goalkeepers took turns. After moving to the Pittsburgh Penguins, he succeeded in his second year, after a start in the AHL with the Hershey Bears to finally become regular goalkeeper in the NHL. In the playoffs, the 1975/76 season He even managed a shutout, but this could not prevent the elimination in the first round.
Even after a further change to the Colorado Rockies, he was the number one goal. But in the first three years in Colorado, he also played in phases in the AHL for the Hampton Gulls and the Philadelphia Firebirds. After he came in the fourth year, only six inserts and mostly played in the CHL with the Fort Worth Texans, he moved to the 1980/81 season with the Quebec Nordiques. Here he was the goalkeeper with most operations, but over the following season, he was released to the Hartford Whalers. This put him in the AHL with the Binghamton Whalers, where he ended his career after eight games.
In 2006, he died after a heart attack.
NHL stats
Sporting successes
- Calder Cup: 1972
- Stanley Cup: 1973
Personal Awards
- QJHL Second All-Star Team: 1968