Tale of Barilko’s Cup heroics and tragic death still resonates
Truth be told, Bill Barilko was lucky to have been in the right place at the right time. He wasn’t a great skater and his offensive prowess was minimal. What he did have, though, was heart.
There is little reason to commit Barilko’s career statistics to memory: 26 goals and 62 points in 252 regular-season games doesn’t elevate the defenceman to the level of alltime greats. But there is one fact that can never be forgotten; a single feat that ensures that Barilko’s name is still discussed 56 years after the conclusion of his career.
Bill Barilko scored the most dramatic goal in the history of the Maple Leafs. And he never scored another.
Born in Timmins in 1927, Bill was the second of three children of an immigrant couple struggling to make certain their brood was fed. With poor skating skills, Barilko was relegated to netminding duties early on. Later, tagging along with older brother Alex, a mainstay with the juvenile champion Holman Pluggers, Billy prayed that one of the Pluggers’ netminders would be unable to attend practice so he could suit up and tend goal.
Desire eclipsed talent, but Bill was determined. He worked at his skat- ing until he became a solid defenceman. Over time he caught the attention of scouts, and in 1945, Bill was signed by the Hollywood Wolves of the Pacific Coast Hockey League where he was tutored by Tommy Anderson, the NHL’s most valuable player in 1941-42. Anderson nurtured Barilko’s raw talent and in no time, Bill became the darling of Hollywood’s hockey society.
During February of 1947, with Toronto’s defence corps depleted through injury, Barilko was summoned from Hollywood for four or five games. The 19-year-old stepped into the Leafs lineup on Feb. 6, 1947, and what was intended to be a temporary patch for the Leafs’ blue line turned into five NHL seasons. The kid with a heart as big as an ice rink and as tough as the granite beneath his hometown’s soil made it impossible to be removed from the roster. The Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 1947, 1948 and 1949 — Bill’s first three seasons. Oldtimers swear the Leafs were robbed of the Cup in 1950, too.
After a strong finish to the 1950-51 season, Toronto faced the league’s top team, the Montreal Canadiens, for the Stanley Cup. Each of the four games prior to April 21,1951, had gone into overtime, with Toronto up three games to one. With less than a minute remaining in Game 5, the Canadiens were up 2-1. Toronto coach Joe Primeau pulled his netminder for an extra attacker, and Tod Sloan jammed in the tying goal with 32 seconds to spare.
“Take no prisoners but take no chances,” implored Primeau before overtime. “Barilko! You cross the Habs’ blue line and I’ll fine you,” warned the coach. Bill nodded dutifully.
Two minutes into overtime, Toronto’s Howie Meeker corralled a loose puck behind the Montreal net and attempted a wraparound. Goaltender Gerry McNeil slipped as he went to guard the post and Meeker got the puck back. He tried to slide the puck in front of the net, but it hit Butch Bouchard’s skate and bounced out to the faceoff circle. Barilko gambled, charging in from his blue-line post, and at 2:53 of extra time he backhanded the puck into the back of the net as McNeil could only watch it sail over his shoulder. Barilko, now horizontal, could do nothing but smile as he watched his shot fly in.
Barilko bounded to his feet and was immediately smothered in a huddle of blue and white sweaters. As Pri- meau threw his arms around Barilko, the kid laughed. “You still going to fine me, Coach?”
During the summer, Barilko returned to Timmins. A friend, dentist Henry Hudson, offered to take Bill fishing in northern Quebec. On Aug. 24, 1951, the two flew to Seal River in Dr. Hudson’s plane. Bill’s mother was so upset that her boy was going on such a trip that she refused to kiss him goodbye. She lived with that pain for the rest of her life.
The plane never arrived back in Timmins, disappearing without a trace. The largest aerial search ever undertaken by the Canadian military turned up nothing.
The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t win another Stanley Cup until April 22, 1962 — about the same length of time it took to discover the fate of Bill Barilko. On June 6, 1962, a pilot spotted metal on the forest floor north of Cochrane, Ont. When a crew was later able to trudge to the spot, they found Hudson’s plane with the skeletal remains of Hudson and Barilko still strapped into the cockpit.
For 11 years, the unforgiving forests of northern Ontario had refused to divulge the secret. Kevin Shea is a hockey historian and author of The Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club: Official Centennial Publication, 1917-2017.