Bill Barilko's Fateful Fishing Trip

0:00It's March 25th. This is NHL News today, powered by AI Everything Happening with your team. I'm Cory with the story. In 1951, Toronto Maple Leafs' defenseman Bill Barilco delivered one of Hockey's most iconic moments. On April 21st, in overtime of game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, he dove headfirst toward the Montreal-Canadian's net and fired a backhand, shot past the goalie. That goal clinched the cup for Toronto in front of over 14,000 roaring fans at Maple Leaf Gardens. Barilco, nicknamed Bashan Bill for his fearless style, had joined the lease in 1946 and helped win four cups in five seasons. He wasn't a big score, but his timely goals mattered most. Off the ice, he ran an appliance store in Toronto and loved hunting and fishing during the summer. Just four months after that triumph, in late August, Barilco vanished on a fishing trip to Northern Quebec. He'd hitched a last-minute ride with a dentist friend in a small plane.

1:01His worried mother begged him not to fly out on a Friday, but he went anyway. When they didn't return, a massive air-search kicked off. It became Canada's most expensive rescue operation ever, with dozens of planes covering 78,000 square kilometers for two months. No trace turned up. One, eleven years later, in June 1962, a helicopter pilot spotted wreckage just 75 miles from Baroko's hometown of Timmons, Ontario. Searchers hacked through dense bush to reach the crashed plane, finding two skeletons still belted in, along with their catcher fish. Baroko was only 24. His Stanley Cup goal remains at least legend, with his number retired alongside just one other players for decades, keeping his memory alive for.