disappeared that summer...
The story of Bill Barilko was well-known to hockey fans a half-century ago. But, it wasn't until 41 years after his heroic goal and disappearance that his strange tale was reintroduced to the mainstream by one of Canada's all-time great bands. The Tragically Hip's '50 Mission Cap' succinctly recounts the summer of 1951 in the song's verse.
Bill Barilko disappeared that summer
He was on a fishing trip
The last goal he ever scored
Won the Leafs the cup
They didn't win another till nineteen sixty two
The year he was discovered
Given that the song sheds light on the strange coincidence/cosmic fate of the Maple Leafs' Stanley Cup fortunes and Barilko's disappearance, it seems additionally fitting that the song -- from The Hip's fourth album, Fully Completely -- was released in 1992, the year Barilko's number was officially retired by the hockey club.