Bill Barilko

Bill Barilko
Date of birth	March 25, 1927
place of birth	Timmins , Ontario , Canada
date of death	August 26, 1951
Place of death	Cochrane , Ontario , Canada
size	180 cm
Weight	82 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Right
Career stations
1942-1944	Holman Pluggers
1944-1945	Timmins Canadians Porcupine Combines
1945-1947	Hollywood Wolves
1947-1951	Toronto Maple Leafs

William "Bill" Barilko (born March 25, 1927 in Timmins , Ontario , † August 26, 1951 near Cochrane , Ontario) was a Canadian ice hockey player who was active for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League .

Career

Bill Barilko began his career in the Pacific Coast Hockey League with the Hollywood Wolves and played for them until February 1947. At that time he was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs as a substitute.

1947 to 1949 he was able to win the Stanley Cup three times in a row with the Maple Leafs . In the 1950/51 season they reached the final again. After four games it was 3-1 for Toronto and in the fifth game it went into overtime. After two minutes and 53 seconds, Barilko, who had only scored four playoff goals in his career as a defender, scored to win the Maple Leafs and thus to win the Stanley Cup.

Four months later, on August 26, 1951, Barilko and a friend flew a small plane from Fairchild to northern Québec to fish. On the return flight the plane disappeared and even after an intensive search it could not be found. On June 7, 1962, a pilot discovered the wreck about 100 kilometers north of Cochrane.

The Maple Leafs had won the Stanley Cup that year, for the first time since Barilko's disappearance. The Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip dealt in their 1992 song Fifty Mission Cap with the tragedy surrounding Barilko and with the fact that the Maple Leafs could not win the Stanley Cup while he was missing.

The Toronto Maple Leafs blocked his number 5. For a long time, along with the number 6 from Ace Bailey, it was the only one that was no longer awarded, as the Maple Leafs only blocked numbers of players who had made a special contribution to the team , died or retired due to injuries while playing in Toronto.

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	5	252	26th	36	62	456
Playoffs	5	47	5	7th	12	104

Achievements and Awards

• Stanley Cup : 1947 , 1948 , 1949 and 1951

Web links

• Bill Barilko at hockeydb.com (English)
• Bill Barilko at legendsofhockey.net (English)