He had a hat trick in half my verse. — Wordburglar
Something wonderful and inspiring and unrepeatable happened inside Madison Square Garden on March 23, 1952.
The Chicago Black Hawks were trailing the New York Rangers in the third period when Bill Mosienko, the quicksilver right winger on the infamous Pony Line, scored three goals in 21 seconds (and, legend has it, nearly potted a fourth in the same minute). Buoyed by the fastest hat trick in the history of the NHL, Chicago stormed back to win the game 7-6.
Though it’s probably 63 years overdue, the Hall of Fame forward’s fleet feat now has its very own rap song, “Bill Mosienko (21 Seconds),” by nerdy underground lyrical wizard Wordburglar.
The Halifax emcee, born Sean Jordan, thanks his father for introducing him to Mosienko’s magical rampage.
“My dad is an amazing guy – a real fountain of knowledge, and a big hockey fan. Growing up, he was always metaphorically linking my life to sports trivia,” Jordan says.
“When he first told me about Mosienko’s record, I was probably around eight or nine playing in a hockey tournament and we were losing. Some of the kids were acting like the game was over and had stopped even trying, so he told us about the record to help motivate us. I don’t remember if we wound up winning or losing that day, but I never forgot about Mosienko’s 21-second hat trick, and ever since ‘Mosienko’ just became a motivational reference for life in general.”
Assisted by a nifty Pharoahe Monch hockey sample, “Bill Mosienko” falls into the slim category of Sports Rap Songs That Won’t Make You Cringe. Even better, it introduces a new generation to one hell of a hockey record.
“Nobody’s touched it in over 60 years, and I can’t imagine someone beating it now. It’s one of those obscure sports trivia questions that you can’t believe is real, but it’s also very inspiring in that anything-can-happen way,” Jordan says.
“It’s a great record to think about when your team is losing or the chips are down, and I just wanted to give the Mosienko legend some props.”
One-Timers with Wordburglar
On his own hockey skills: “I played house league ’til I was around 16 and loved it — right wing [like Mosienko] and defence. I was a better skater than a shooter though — and always much better at baseball haha. I love both sports, obviously, and still play whenever I get the chance.
On his favourite hockey team: Growing up in Halifax without a home team to cheer, I tended to follow players more than teams – Lemieux, Bourque, Messier, Roy, Fuhr, Gilmour, Sakic, Chelios and on. I always cheer for the Canadian teams, though, and I’m excited to see if the Leafs can finally make something happen. It’s a great time to be a Toronto sports fan.
On the best rap song named after an athlete: How about best rap album named after an athlete? ‘Cause I’d have to give it to Shaq Diesel. Ha ha. There’s some decent production on that record, plus the Fu-Schnickens! Also honourable mention to “Shaker’s Rap” by Lloyd Moseby, probably my favourite rap song by an athlete.
