Hockey Cards and Music - Tragically Hip - Fifty Mission Cap

One post I have been meaning to do since I started this blog was one about the song Fifty Mission Cap by the Tragically Hip. The song is about Bill Barilko and his final NHL game and following tragic demise. What I like about the song is not just it's a very interesting story, not just because it describes a card from my favourite set of all time but also because it references a hockey card I actually owned before I even heard the song. When the song came out and I listened to the lyrics I knew exactly what they were referring to and that just added to my enjoyment of all things related to Fifty Mission Cap. 


1951-52 Parkhurst #52 The Winning Goal

I wish I owned this card. Still on my want list and without a doubt one of the best hockey cards ever made and definitely one of the best from the 1951 set. Just sheer awesomeness. Because Bill went missing after this season, he wasn't actually included in the 1951-52 Parkhurst set because they just featured players from the 1951-52 season as opposed to players who played in the previous season so for some fans, this card is Bill Barilko's rookie.

As iconic I believe the previous card was, it was actually this next card from the 1991-92 Pro Set Series 1 set that The Tragically Hip reference. The photo is a zoomed out and larger than the Parkhurst one but still the same iconic scene.

Back side

Here is the back side of the card which was references in the song.


Fifty Mission Cap

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
I stole this from a hockey card
I keeped tucked up under

My fifty-mission cap
I worked it in
I worked it in to look like that
It's my fifty-mission cap
It's his fifty-mission cap
And I worked it in
I worked it in
And I worked it in to look like that
And I worked it in to look like that

Bill Barilko disappeared that summer (in nineteen fifty one)
He was on a fishing trip (in a plane)
The last goal he ever scored (in over time)
Won the Leafs the cup
They didn't win another till nineteen sixty two
The year he was discovered

In my fifty-mission cap
I worked it in
I worked it in to look like that
It's my fifty-mission cap
It's his fifty-mission cap
And I worked it in
I worked it in
And I worked it in to look like that
And I worked it in to look like that

It's my fifty-mission cap
It's my fifty-mission cap
It's my fifty-mission cap
It's my fifty-mission cap