Gord Downie’s death on Tuesday night capitviated the hockey world with the amount of support that poured out for The Tragically Hip's leading singer.
A noted diehard Bruins fan, Downie was in the thoughts of many hockey players and athletes that used The Tragically Hip’s music as a way to pump themselves up or deal with the stress and scrutiny of being in the spotlight.
The Hip had several songs that touched on the sport of hockey, but none were as popular as “50 Mission Cap.” The 1993 single was written after former Maple Leafs defenceman Bill Barilko, who scored the Stanley Cup winning goal in the 1951 cup finals.
Four months after lifting Lord Stanley, Barilko went missing when he departed for a fishing trip. Not until eleven years later was his body found in the wreckage of the plane approximately 100 kilometres north of Cochrane, Ontario. The Leafs won their first cup after his iconic goal the same year as his body was found in 1962.
In 1991, the company Pro Set made a special card highlighting Barilko’s goal. The Tragically Hip got ahold of the card in 1998 with each band member signing it. Now, the card is being auctioned off on eBay by Stratford, Ontario’s Blair and Christy Babcock. Blair’s father, Larry, died in 2007 from glioblastoma, the same type of brain cancer that took the life of Downie. As of Friday night, the card had a price tag of over $2,000 CAD.
The winning proceeds will be put towards the Stratford Perth Community Foundation, the Chatham-Kent Community Foundation, and the Gord Downie Fund at the Sunnybrook Foundation. You can big on the card until October 26.
