The Toronto Maple Leafs is one of the oldest professional hockey teams in North America. Their team’s roster from seasons past reads like a who’s who in hockey. Although, not in the Hockey Hall of Fame, there can be no doubt that one of the most famous Maple Leaf players is the legendary Bill Barilko.

Bill Barilko was born on March 25th 1927, in the small gold mining town of Timmins, Ontario. As the son of Russian parents, and being a Canadian it is not surprising that he took up the sport of hockey. Due to the fact that he was not a great skater, he started out playing as a goalie. With hard work and practice Bill’s skating ability improved significantly and he was moved to a defensive position.

At five foot eleven inches he was not a large man, but scouts recognized his spirit and his heart. He was not afraid of any player on the ice. That combined with his checking ability gained him the chance to play for one of the Leaf’s farm teams. Bill played a number of seasons with the Wolves in Hollywood.

In 1947, the Maple Leaf team was hampered by injuries. They needed to call up a defenseman from one of their farm teams. In a surprising move, general manger and owner Con Symthe chose Bill. The nineteen year old Bill arrived in Toronto on February 3rd 1947, and suited up for his NHL debut. The first game that Bill Barilko played was certainly not something that Leaf fans want to remember. They were destroyed by the Montreal Canadians. Lead by Rocket Richard the Canadians defeated the Leafs 8 -2.

Bill was never sent back to Hollywood. He would stay in Toronto and continue to play with the Leafs for the next four years. Bill played good solid defense. He was known throughout the league as a hard hitting player, who would not back down to any opponent. During these years the Leafs managed to win the Stanley Cup four times. They hoisted the cup in victory in 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951.

With four cups to his credit, Bill’s true moment of glory came in the 1950-1951 season. The Maple Leafs made the Stanley Cup final against their rivals the Montreal Canadians. The series was long and grueling on both teams. All of the games had gone into overtime, something that had never happened before in the history of the NHL. The Leafs had managed to win three games, to Montreal’s one. Toronto only needed one more game to win the cup.

There was not an empty seat in Maple Leaf Gardens. The stage was set and the fans were about to see one of the most exciting games in the history of the sport. Once again, the game went into overtime and in a moment that will never be forgotten by any Leaf fan Bill Barilko, fired a bullet past Montreal goalie. The Leafs won the cup and Bill was the man of the hour.

This would be the last time that Bill Barilko ever played hockey. During the off season he and a friend decided to take a fishing trip to Northern Ontario. On the 27th of August Bill’s mother received a phone call telling her that her son’s plane never returned, and it was missing. Despite an all out search for the plane was never found.

Almost instantly the rumors and legend began. There was talk that Bill and a friend were smuggling gold. Other people thought that Bill had returned to Russia. With the disappearance of Bill, the Maple Leaf’s seemed to be under some kind of curse. Many fans believed that the team would not win another cup while Bill Barilko was missing. For eleven years the team played under this black cloud. Then in 1962 the Maple Leaf’s finally broke the curse. They won the coveted cup once more. What makes the tale even stranger is that barely a week later, the missing plane turned up and Bill’s body was finally recovered.

The legend of Bill Barilko has even managed to enter into pop culture. The Canadian band, the Tragically Hip has immortalized this story in song, The Fifty Mission Cap. Bill only played profession hockey for four and a half season. During that time he was able to lift the cup four times and achieved the dream of hockey players everywhere to win the Stanley Cup in overtime.