Steve Paikin working on Bill Barilko doc, famed for 1951 Stanley Cup-winning goal

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Steve Paikin working on Bill Barilko doc, famed for 1951 Stanley Cup-winning goal

Broadcast journalist Steve Paikin is co-directing 'Frozen in Time: The Bill Barilko Story,' a documentary slated for 2027 about the tragic 1951 Maple Leafs star.

Tom Sasvari

Jul 30, 2026 - 3 min read

Steve Paikin, a broadcast journalist, who has a camp on Manitoulin Island, is working on a documentary featuring Toronto Maple Leafs icon Bill Barilko.

Steve Paikin working on Bill Barilko doc, famed for 1951 Stanley Cup-winning goal — Steve Paikin, a broadcast journalist, who has a camp on Manitoulin Island, is working on a documentary featuring Toronto Maple Leafs icon Bill Barilko.

MANITOULIN ISLAND—Steve Paikin, a broadcast journalist who owns a summer camp on Manitoulin Island, has been working on a documentary featuring Toronto Maple Leafs hero Bill Barilko, who scored the overtime winning goal that clinched the Leafs the Stanley Cup in 1951.

“Bill Barilko was 24 years old at the time, and on April 21, 1951 he had the biggest event of his life,” Mr. Paikin told The Expositor. “The Leafs at the time had won four Stanley Cups in five years. And in 1951 he scored the Stanley Cup winning goal in the final game, in overtime. It was the most spectacular moment any hockey player can experience.”

“Then, tragically, on August 24, Barilko goes on a fishing trip to northern Quebec with his friend Henry Hudson, a dentist, and on their return to Ontario after two days of fishing their plane goes down and he vanishes without a trace,” said Mr. Paikin. He said the whole story is Shakespearian in nature, due to its triumphs and tragedy.