From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William "Bashin' Bill" Barilko (born March 25,
1927 in Timmins, Ontario – died August 26, 1951 near Cochrane,
Ontario) was a Canadian ice hockey player of Ukrainian descent who
played his entire National Hockey League career
for the Toronto Maple Leafs.[1][2]
Professional
career
In February 1947, Barilko was called up to the Maple Leafs from
the PCHL's
Hollywood Wolves and played for Leafs until his death.[3]
He was sweater #21 when he debuted for the
Leafs. He changed to #19 for the 1948-49 and 1949-50 seasons. The
#5 (which was retired by the Leafs) was only worn by Barilko for
one season, 1950-51. During that span of five seasons, Barilko and
the Toronto Maple Leafs were Stanley Cup champions on four occasions
1947, 1948, 1949, 1951.[4]
The last goal he ever scored (in overtime against the Montreal
Canadiens' Gerry
McNeil in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final) on April 21, 1951,
won the Maple Leafs the Stanley Cup.[2]
Death
Four months later, on August 26, 1951, he joined his dentist
Henry Hudson on a flight aboard Hudson's Fairchild 24 floatplane to Seal River, Quebec, for a fishing trip.[5]
On the return trip, the single-engine plane disappeared and its
passengers remained missing.[5]
On June 7, 1962, helicopter pilot Ron Boyd discovered the wreckage
of the plane about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Cochrane,
Ontario[6][7]
(about 35 miles off course). The cause of the crash was deemed to
have been a combination of pilot inexperience, poor weather and
overloaded cargo.[8]
Notably, the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup that year, after not
winning it at all during the eleven years that he was missing.[6][9][8][6]
The
Tragically Hip's song "Fifty Mission Cap", from their 1992
album Fully Completely, features
Barilko's tragic story and the lack of another Leafs championship
"until 1962, the year he was discovered."[7][5]
Honours
Barilko's #5 is one of only two numbers retired by the Maple
Leafs (Ace Bailey's #6
is the other).[6][5][2]
Barilko's story was published in the 1988 book Overtime,
Overdue: The Bill Barilko Story, by John Melady, and the 2004
book Barilko — Without A Trace, by Kevin Shea.
See also
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