William "Bashin' Bill" Barilko (March 25, 1927 - c. August 26, 1951) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played his entire National Hockey League career for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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Personal life
Barilko was of Ukrainian descent and had a brother, Alex, and sister, Anne.
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Professional career
In February 1947, Bill Barilko was called up to the Toronto Maple Leafs from the PCHL's Hollywood Wolves and played for Toronto until his death. He was assigned 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. 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 Leafs the Cup.
Disappearance and death
On August 26, 1951, Barilko joined his dentist, Henry Hudson, on a flight aboard Hudson's Fairchild 24 floatplane to Seal River, Quebec, for a weekend fishing trip. On the return trip, the single-engine plane disappeared and its passengers remained missing. Eleven years later, on June 6, 1962, helicopter pilot Ron Boyd discovered the wreckage of the plane about 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Cochrane, Ontario, about 56 kilometers (35 miles) off course. The cause of the crash was deemed to have been a combination of pilot inexperience, poor weather and overloaded cargo. Notably, the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup that year, after not winning it during the eleven years that he was missing.
The 1992 song "Fifty Mission Cap" by The Tragically Hip is about Barilko's death and the Leafs' subsequent Stanley Cup drought.
Barilko is buried in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, at the Timmins Memorial Cemetery.
Honours
Barilko played in the 1947, 1948 and 1949 NHL All-Star Game, scoring a goal in the 1949 game.
Barilko won 4 Stanley Cups with the Maple Leafs in 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951.
Until October 15, 2016. Barilko's #5 was one of only two numbers retired by the Maple Leafs (Ace Bailey's #6 is the other).
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.
Career statistics
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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