Horton gave time to charity, especially the Easter Seals, as shown here in 1957. Courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator.

Shot of Tim Horton from 1965. Courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator.

Horton played his last hockey with the Buffalo Sabres. Courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator.

Early advertisement for the first Horton’s store in Hamilton in 1964. Courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator .

Hockey History

Tim Horton

Tim Horton legacy began and continues in Hamilton.
Famous Maple Leaf started his coffee shops in the city in 1964

He was not born in Hamilton. He never played hockey in Hamilton at any level.

But to Hamiltonians, the name Tim Horton is the most famous in hockey circles.

Hockey fans over 40 years old remember Horton as a player with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres, but it was the start of Horton’s coffee and donut shops that keep his name on just about every street corner in the city.

Born in Cochrane in January of 1930, Horton was one of the strongest men in the sport.

This defenseman started his career in hockey with the Copper Cliff Redmen in 1946, but the next year was signed by the Saint Michael’s Majors, playing Junior A for the next two seasons.

He was signed by the Maple Leafs in 1949, spending a couple of years going between Toronto and the Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL. For the 1952-53 season, he was playing fulltime as a Leaf until he was traded to the New York Rangers during the 1969-70 season. He remained in the Big Apple for two seasons, and then headed west to play with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 1971-72 season, and then the following year went to play with the Buffalo Sabres.

During the 1958-59 season, Horton was paired with fellow Leaf defenseman Allan Stanley as part of a rugged, reliable, team defense. This group also helped the Leafs to four Stanley Cups, three back-to-back in 1962, 1963, and 1964, and the fourth in 1967, the last year Toronto has won the coveted Cup.

It was also during this period, this heyday for the Leafs, that Horton was selected three times to the NHL’s First All-Star team.

There was some talk about retirement in the late 1960s. The team was not the powerhouse of previous years, Horton’s coach and mentor Punch Imlach was fired, and Horton was concentrating on his business ventures.

Hockey players did not make the high salaries as they do today, and with four young daughters, Horton was ready to invest in a business proposition by 1960.

After a couple of stalled attempts in business, one venture a series of hamburger stands with Jim Charade, and a stab at a Studebaker dealership in Toronto, Horton invested $10,000 in a project that would see a group of coffee/donut shops.

With Hamilton policeman Ron Joyce, the pair set up their first shop in 1964, known as Tim Horton Donuts, at 65 Ottawa Street North, and the corner of Dunsmure, in Hamilton. Later that year a second shop, on Concession Street near Upper Sherman, was opened.

In 1967 the third shop was opened in Hamilton, and Joyce became a full partner.

While Horton continued to play hockey, he also continued to build donut shops. By 1974 there were 33 locations.

But it was also in 1974 that this iconic hockey figure lost his life. Returning from Toronto to Buffalo after a Leafs-Sabres game, Horton lost control of his car on the Queen Elizabeth Way near Saint Catharines, and was killed in the auto smash in February of that year. He was 44.

The enterprise in his name grew to become a national institution. By 2006, Tim Hortons opened its 3000th location, and in 2008, opened its 500th location in the US. The company was purchased by Wendy’s International Inc. in 1995, but retains corporate offices in Oakville, Ontario.

Tim Horton played over two decades in the NHL, and had 17 full seasons with the Leafs. He played 1,446 games, collected 115 goals, and 518 points. His best year was the 1963-64 season, when he scored 12 times in 70 games.

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