It is said that a hockey stick was owned and signed by Bill Barilko, the Toronto Arce leaf that scored the winning goal of the Stanley Cup in extra time in 1951 and died at 24 in a plane crash that summer, is in the auction block.
Miller and Miller Auctions, based in New Hamburg, Ontario, is selling the wooden stick “issued by the game” of the 1950-51 season. The “5” stamped near the top of the stick indicates that Bill Barilko was broadcast, since it was his number that season, says the auction house.
Barilko, born in Timmins, Ontario, played 252 games in the NHL, spending his five seasons with Toronto. The aggression of the defense in the ice earned him Bashin Bill’s nickname.
For many, his game score 5 against the Montreal Canadiens on April 21, 1951 is one of the most celebrated in hockey. He helped capture the fourth Cup of the Maple Leafs in five years.
But it was also Barilko’s last goal.
In August of the same year, he was on a fishing trip to James Bay when the plane he was fell. The Leafs did not win another cup until 1962. Six weeks later, the accident site and the body of Barilko were located.
His story inspired the tragically modern song Fifty -year cap.
Benjamin Pernfuss, director of consignment in the sports category in Miller and Miller, described the stick as a “unique finding.”
“It is one of those elements that hurries you when you have it in your hand, just knowing that you are touching a piece of history,” Pernfuss told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo’s The morning edition.
“Every day, I am in the collections of different people and seeing articles, and it is not every day that I see something that I have not seen before. But this is one of those elements and it really brought me a lot of joy to get it and offer it. [it] For sale “.
After disappearing mysteriously, the Toronto Maple Leafs would not win another Stanley Cup until Barilko’s remains were found 11 years later.
The stick is recorded for the use of the game in a way that combines with Barilko’s style, and the album marks and wear in the lower hand grip area indicates that the stick was probably used in a game, although Miller and Miller Sublats cannot confirm that.
It is stamped with the name Love & Bennett, which at that time supplied hockey adheres to the Maple Leafs.
The stick was allegedly a gift for the owner of a cabin of northern Ontario that received Leaf players in the low season after their victory in the Stanley Cup, says Miller and Miller Austs on their website.
Pernfuss said the stick includes other “identifiable” firms, which include: Turk Broda, Ted Kennedy, Joe Klukay, Cal Gardner, Fleming Mackell, Ray Timgren, Howie Meeker, Harry Watson, Bill Judge, Sid Smith, Max Bentley, Al Rollins and Tod Sloan, who were all in the team of 1951.
Miller and Miller’s auctions points to Rollins and Sloan’s signatures also help out with the 1950-51 season.
“These two players did not pass at the Toronto Maple Leafs until the 1950s-51 season and Barilko did not play after that season, indicating that the stick was signed during the famous winning year of the Stanley Cup,” says the auction house.
Miller and Miller anticipate that the stick will be between $ 3,000 and $ 5,000, offers closed on Sunday night, but Pernfuss said because it is very rare: “Heaven is the limit” when it comes to what someone can pay.
“There are not many of his memories out there, and the stick was owned by Barilko and also signed by him. It is a significant piece and a rare article in the history of hockey.”
The morning edition – KW4:11A piece of Maple Leafs hockey history increases for an auction
Toronto Maple Leafs player Bill Barilko, Hockey Stick is in the auction block at Miller and Miller auctions in New Hamburg. Benjamin Pernfuss, the director of consignment in the sports category, tells us about the story behind the stick and why it is a hot product for the auction.
