Family and Childhood

William Barilko, Bill for short, was a famous hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs. This great Canadian was born in Timmins, Ontario on May 25th in 1927 (“www.barilko.ca”, n.d.). He was the second born son of Russian parents (Peacock, 2001) Steve and Feodosia Barilko with one older brother named Alex (“www.barilko.ca”, n.d.) and one younger sister named Anne (O’Connor, 2013). At a young age, Bill and his siblings would listen to the hockey games described on Saturday Night Radio featuring the famous Foster Hewitt’s voice, since games were not shown live on television as they are nowadays (O’Toole, 2011). As a child, Bill would follow the game and try to act out the goals with his older brother who also became a professional player (2011). Little did Bill Barilko know that his childhood dream of playing for the Leafs would later become a reality.