He changed a sport forever!

That’s Not Hockey is a wonderfully illustrated story about Jacques Plante, who became a famous goalie for the Montreal Canadians, helping them win six Stanley cups and receiving seven Vezina best goalie trophies. The book has a vibrant spread for key moments in Jacques’ life, starting with his initial foray into a lifetime love of hockey at age three. His defining moments are captured at age three, five, seven, fifteen, twenty-one, and further into adulthood.

Jacques started his legendary career using sticks and tennis balls, protected by potato sacks and wooden slats. He worked his way up with dedication, perseverance, and didn’t let what other people said deter him from his goals. There is an emphasis on his ingenuity dealing with a lack of equipment and finances, his skill as a player, an accounting of the many injuries that he sustained, and his desire to make hockey safer for himself and others. Jacques didn’t succeed the first time, but he persevered.

Just a great all-around story with beautiful full-color illustrations that will capture a child’s imagination along with the story. Although the accounting of his injuries and some of the pictures are a little sad, it makes Jacques’ victory in getting to wear a facemask all the more poignant and triumphant. It’s a great lesson in not giving up.

Recommended for children who love stories about sports, adversity, heroes, and bravery. Lots of conversation openers about persistence, what it takes to make a hero, standing up for what is right, protecting yourself as well as others, and being willing to be a pioneer despite criticism and opposition.

I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher through NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

Good story about a real person and real invention. I predict boys and sports fans will enjoy this story. I liked the repetition and the illustrations.

What a wonderful story of how to take a stand in the face of bullying!

I loved this little behind-the-scenes story of a hockey goalie who made a wonderful contribution to the game of hockey. (No spoilers, so I won't say what.) Now, I'm not some big fan of hockey, but I still really enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend it. And I'd even recommend it to teachers to read out loud in their classrooms. The message of doing what you know is good for you (even in the face of people not understanding, or people laughing at you) is always timely.

I love the refrain... But that's not hockey!

Thanks to NetGalley and Annick Press Ltd. for this DRC.
What a delightful way to teach kids about standing up for yourself, safety, and how both those things helped change hockey forever.
I thought they did a fantastic job telling the story of how Jacques Plante was not only a fantastic hockey player but and innovator in the game with lots of fun pictures along the way.

Being a huge hockey fan, the mother of hockey players and hoping my grandson will start playing soon, I think this book is a must read. It is the true story of Jacques Plante and how he changed the fact of hockey. The author, Andrée Poulin, shared Jacques journey from a teased child with innovative hockey gear (tree root for a goalie stick, pillows for goalie pads etc.) to a professional goalie. Jacques loved the sport, but after sustaining numerous, serious injuries to his face and head, he designed his own hockey mask. Not only did his coach not want him to wear it in a game, but when he did, the fans and reporters made fun of him. Eventually, it was accepted and he became known as the Masked Marvel, backstopping his team to six Stanley Cups. His innovation and bravery changed the game play in terms of skills (he handled the puck and came out of his net), confidence, and safety for the goalie and players. Now helmets and face masks are standard equipment,thanks to Jacques Plante. The amount of text is just right, with fluent lines and a repeating chorus of, "Hey, that's not hockey!" The illustrations show the reality of what the goalies went through regularly with stitches, broken noses, and blood on the ice. They have a mix of colorful action and black and white in the background. This book can be used to show how innovation can come from anyone, as well as using it to teach about basic biographies. I just enjoyed the story and I think it would make a great read aloud to junior classes. A great addition to family, class, school and public libraries. The publisher, Annick Press Ltd., generously provided me with a copy of this book to read. The rating, ideas and opinions are my own.

"That's not hockey!" by Andrée Poulin is a cute picture book for young hockey-lovers. The text is lyrical and the illustrations by Felix Girard are bright and entertaining. It's also a great first introduction to Jacques Plante and how he literally changed the face of hockey.

Recommended for ages 4-10. Good for storytime read-alouds, especially with the repeated refrain of "That's not hockey!", as well as its' message of never giving up.

This is an interesting book! My baby brother grew up playing hockey and I'm always looking for good hockey books for my toddler to get him into hockey. Not quite for young age but I love this history of this book. The premise could be used for so many things developed during history! Cute book overall!

If you are a fan of hockey, this book is a must read. It is the true story about the goalie who invented the hockey mask. I really like how the author unravels Jacques journey from a teased child with innovative hockey gear to a professional goalie. Jacques came from a foundation of creativity and a love for the sport, through sustaining numerous harsh injuries to the face and head, to inventing and wearing the first hockey mask out on the ice. Oh, and this hockey star- won six Stanley Cups. His innovation and bravery changed the level of game play in terms of skills, confidence, and safety for the goalie. I appreciate how the author and illustrator don't sugar coat the reality of hockey, from stitches, broken noses, and blood on the ice, you get an idea of the experience on the ice. This is a great read aloud for Canadians, Mainers, and all hockey fan communities. I also recommend this picturebook as a mentor text for your biography units of study with older kids. The double spread full bleed illustrations are fantastic, realistic enough for the genre, yet active and interesting for children to look at. It is cool how the illustrations have a mix of colorful action and black and white in the background. The amount of text is just right, with fluent lines and a repeating chorus, "Hey, that's not hockey!" I will be purchasing this book to share with my students. I love hockey and I love this important narrative about a vital contribution to the sport.

A good intro to Jacques Plante and the history of goalie masks for younger children. We will purchase for our 0-2nd grade Nonfiction collection.

That's Not Hockey! is the story of Jacques Plante, the famous goalie who invented the face mask for hockey. We follow Jacques and his love of hockey from the time he is a young child finding ways to play the game even when he didn't have all of the "proper" equipment. His father helps him find ways to cobble together make-do equipment from whatever they can find lying around, whether it's a tree branch instead of a real hockey stick, or old potato sacks instead of knee pads.

Jacques' passion and honed skills eventually get him all the way to the NHL. As goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, Jacques is a superstar, but quickly realizes that his face is doing a lot of the puck-blocking. Good for his stats, but not so great for his face.

He develops a mask that will help to protect his face, but then he must fight to be allowed to wear it during games. Enduring endless criticisms and mocking, he perseveres and eventually the hockey mask and helmet became standard gear for all players.

The illustrations throughout are really cute and the story both tells a piece of history and teaches a little lesson about how innovators must be tenacious when fighting against preconceived notions. I really enjoyed this book, even though it led to a few lost hours as I got caught in a Heritage Minutes rabbit hole on YouTube.

Thanks to NetGalley and Annick Press for providing me with a DRC of this book.

Not just for Canadians and North Americans alone, this story of the invention of ice hockey masks is well illustrated, simple to read, and goes great and easy lengths to demonstrate the success and change a bit of pluck and invention can lead to – not just on the ice. Yes, it will go down a lot better in the countries that know the real-life story, but it's a good tale worth relating to, with a clear moral.

I have only been to one hockey game in my life. I doubt I have watched many more than that. I don't live in an area that snows more than once every few years. And yet, this book is so much fun, I fell in love with it.

Just look at that picture of Jacques Plante, playing his version of hockey as a little boy.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-810" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-02-at-10.54.04-PM.png" alt="" />

Jacques was always improvising, and doing things differently, and thus we have the reoccurring theme of people saying "That's not Hockey!"

As a guard, he was constantly getting hit in the face, and he decided to put a stop to it, by wearing a mask. Even though he was told that wasn't hockey, he went ahead, and wore it.
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-803" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-01-at-4.46.49-PM.png" alt="That's not hocky" />

Because of him, guards now wear masks.

It is a history lesson, but also a fun story of determination and breaking the rules. And I think kids will get a kick out of seeing how his version of hockey was played, even if they don't play hockey themselves.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

A perfect story for my little hockey lover. My son at 2 yr's old pointed out right away that they were not wearing helmets on the ice in the pictures. This was a great introduction of the story and the man that changed hockey forever.