Jacques Plante was an amazing man. His career as a goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, The Toronto Maple Leafs and finally the Boston Bruins included the development of the goalie face mask, and the movement of the goalie out of the net to help the defense (revolutionary when Plante began them, but now standard practice). He won the Vezina trophy seven times for highest achievement in goal and was named to the all star team seven times. He had 79 career shut-outs.

What most don't know, however, was that it was adversity that moved the man into the goal net. Jacques Plante was a severe asthmatic. As a child, when he would play defense on the ice-pond in sub-zero weather, he had difficulty breathing whenever the position would require him to skate fast. As a result, he moved into goal where he wouldn't have to do high-speed skating. When Plante was interviewed about his illustrious career, he frankly confessed, "If it hadn't been for my asthma, I probably would have stayed on defense and never progressed beyond pond hockey."

What may seem an obstacle may in fact be the stepping stone, the loss may in fact be the gain.