Bill Barilko played just five years in the National Hockey
League in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, yet his name remains one of the
most recognizable amongst Canadian hockey fans to this day. Barilko went
missing in dense Northern Ontario forest following a plane crash. His death
came shortly after his overtime goal in game five of the Stanley Cup finals
gave Toronto the victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of Bill Barilko
with the following four trivia questions.
Q. What minor league team did Bill Barilko play for before being called
up to the Toronto Maple Leafs?
A. Barilko played
1945-46 and 1946-47 with the Hollywood Wolves of the Pacific Coast Hockey League.
Barilko was called away from Hollywood after 47 games in 1946-47. The Wolves
finished first in the South Division that season but lost in the play-offs
semi-final. It was the last season the Wolves existed. Bill was supposed to be
heading to the Pittsburgh Hornets of the American Hockey League when he was
called away from Hollywood. He never played in the NHL and instead went
directly to the Maple Leafs.
Q. What Montreal Canadiens goaltender was in net when Bill
Barilko scored the overtime game winning goal in game five of the 1951
Stanley Cup championships?
A. Gerry McNeil
was the unfortunate soul to allow the game and series winning goal by Barilko.
It, of course, was the last goal the Bill ever scored. McNeil played in the NHL
from 1947-48 to 1956-57, all with the Montreal Canadiens. Gerry was the number
one goaltender in Montreal until the end of the 1953-54 season when Jacques
Plante took over and McNeil drifted off into obscurity.
Q. How many Stanley Cup winning teams was Bill Barilko a member of?
A. Incredibly, in
his five years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, they won the Stanley Cup four
times. In 1946-47 and 1950-51 they beat the Montreal Canadiens and in 1947-48
and 1948-49 they beat the Detroit Red Wings. In each series with the Red Wings,
Toronto swept the Detroit in four games. Hap Day was the head coach of the
Maple Leafs for the first three championships while Joe Primeau was
the coach in 1951.
Q. How many all-star games did Bill Barilko play in?
A. In the era
when Barilko played in the NHL, the all-star game consisted of the Stanley Cup
winning team from the previous spring playing against the best players from the
other five teams. Therefore, Barilko played in three all-star games and would
have played a fourth in 1951.
