Michel Plasse
The Montreal Canadiens drafted him first overall in 1968, then traded him three months later without letting him play a single game for the club.
1948–2006 (age 58)·Canadian ice hockey player·Birthday: June 1·Baby Boomers
Biography
Michel Plasse entered the record books on June 13, 1968, when the Montreal Canadiens selected him with the first pick in the inaugural NHL Amateur Draft. The Canadiens traded his rights to the St. Louis Blues that September. Plasse never appeared for Montreal. He instead embarked on a ten-year NHL journey across six teams, serving primarily as a backup goaltender. His most notable on-ice moment occurred on February 21, 1971, playing for the Kansas City Blues of the CHL. Plasse became the first professional goaltender credited with scoring a goal, firing the puck the length of the ice into an empty net. He appeared in 197 NHL games, posting a career goals-against average of 3.61. Plasse's legacy is bifurcated: a permanent footnote in draft history and a working netminder of his era. His name precedes those of Gilbert Perreault, Guy Lafleur, and Denis Potvin on the list of first overall selections. The draft itself, a mechanism he helped inaugurate, permanently reshaped how NHL teams built rosters.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Michel was born in 1948, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Michel Was Born
The biggest hits of 1948
#1 Movie
The Red Shoes
Best Picture
Hamlet
#1 TV Show
Texaco Star Theatre
Michel's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1948Born
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1953Started school
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1961Became a teenager
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1964Could drive
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1966Could vote
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1969Turned 21
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1978Turned 30
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1988Turned 40
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 50
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2006Died at 58
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
Key Achievements
- First overall pick in the inaugural 1968 NHL Amateur Draft.
- First professional goaltender officially credited with scoring a goal (CHL, 1971).
- Played 197 games in the NHL across six franchises.
Did You Know?
He won the Calder Cup (AHL) with the Providence Reds in the 1972-73 season.
His NHL rights were traded five times during his career.
He posthumously had his jersey number 1 retired by the QMJHL's Drummondville Voltigeurs in 2008.
“I was the first pick, but the net is the same size.”
