It was 53 years ago today #5 Bill Barilko scored the goal. It was April 21st, 1951, game 5 of the Stanley Cup final between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. At the 2:53 mark of the first overtime period, Bill Barilko scored the last goal of his life winning the Stanley Cup for the Leafs. The 24 year old defenseman perished in a light plane crash that summer while on a fishing trip to Northern Ontario. Not until his body was recovered 11 years later in the bush near Cochrane, Ontario, did the Leafs win another championship. If you've never seen my tribute to Bill Barilko, today is the day to do it.
Throughout the first round of this year's playoffs, Leaf players have been wearing a blue cap with BB16 embroidered on the front. The "BB" is to invoke the spirit of Bill Barilko while 16 represents the number of games a team must win in order to capture Lord Stanley's Mug. A fellow Leaf fan's site adorns a graphic nicely counting down our wins to the magic number 16.
Only 12 to go...
