presentation - Anthony -

Today, Waleed and I will be presenting the life of Miles Gilbert Horton, better known to the public as “Tim Horton”. Before doing our research Waleed and I only knew about the donuts, Tim Horton was a great hockey player before the donut chain.

Tim Horton was born in Cochrane, Ontario on January 12, 1930. He was named after his two grandparents but his mother preferred to call him “Tim”. He started playing hockey while researching a little found Tim Horton’s childhood. When he was young, the Toronto Maple Leaf scouted Tim and in 1947 he moved to Toronto to play junior hockey and go to school at St. Michael’s college. He was a star defenseman on the team and was chosen best defenseman in the Ontario Hockey Association in 1948 – 49. Tim was known as a strong player. After a few years, on March 26, 1950, Time played his first game for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tim Horton was not a star on the Maple Leaf team, in 1951 to 52 season, Tim only played four games. The following year he became a full time member. Tim Horton got injured and broken his leg in a game against the New York Rangers, and Tim was checked by Bill Gadsby. This injury makes him missing almost a full season. There was doubt that he would play hockey anymore. He would have injuries throughout his career. However, he died return to play and the team did very well.

The team won 4 Stanley Cups during 1962, 63, 64 and 67. Horton was on the NHL fist team All Star 3 times (1964, 68, 69). He was also selected to the NHL Second Team 3 times (1954, 63, 67). He appeared in seven NHL All Star Games. Between Feb 11, 1961 to Feb 4, 1968 Tim appeared in 486 consecutive regular season games on NHL record until it was broken recently Karlis Skrastins on Feb 8, 2007. It is still a record for the Toronto Maple Leaps. During his time with the Maple Leafs, Tim started several businesses. During his time with the Toronto Maple Leaps the team did well.

While playing with the Maple Leafs, Tim Horton helped out many businesses. Tim and his brother opened a restaurant - The Big Seven in North Bay Toronto. In 1961, Tim and his partner opened a Tim Horton Motors in Toronto. He tried to open a burger restaurant in Scarbough, at the same time, Tim open his first donut shop in 1964 at Hamilton, Ontario. In 1965 Tim expanded his donut chain into a multi million franchise system.

Early morning Feb 21, 1974 Tim Horton was on his way to Buffalo at 4.30 a.m. He lost control of speeding up on the highway near St. Catharines, he and his car rolled several times. In fact he did not wear his seat belt. Tim was dead after he arrived at the local hospital. Tim’s report was written Tim had drunk lots of Vodka and taken painkillers the day before.

In our opinion, we totally admire Tim Horton. He did a great effort in his hockey life and succeeds in many best businesses, Tim’s donut shop. He had a 1 month surprising fast recovery in his injuries. He did not scare and went back to the Maple Leafs’ team. However the source did not mention why he had drunk and taken painkillers for. I believe Tim Horton is still the greatest hockey player and a well businessman.