Horton grew up playing ice hockey in Cochrane, and later in mining country near Timmins. The Toronto Maple Leafs organization signed him; in 1948 he moved to Toronto to play junior hockey and attended St. Michael's College School.
Two years later, he turned pro with the Leafs' farm team, the Pittsburgh Hornets of the American Hockey League. He spent most of the first three seasons with Pittsburgh. Playing in his first NHL game on March 26, 1950, Horton did not appear in the NHL again until the fall of 1952. He remained a Leaf until 1970, winning four Stanley Cups. Horton later played for the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres. He was known for his tremendous strength and calmness under pressure. As a hard-working and durable defenceman, he gained relatively few penalty minutes for an enforcer-type defenceman. He was also an effective puck carrier – in 1964–65 he played right wing for the Leafs. Horton appeared in seven National Hockey League All-Star Games. He was named an NHL First Team All-Star three times: (1964, 1968, and 1969). He was selected to the NHL Second Team three times: (1954, 1963, 1967).
Between February 11, 1961, and February 4, 1968, Horton appeared in 486 consecutive regular-season games; this remains the Leafs club record for consecutive games and was the NHL record for consecutive games by a defenceman until broken on February 8, 2007, by Karlis Skrastins.
Horton had a reputation for enveloping players fighting him in a crushing bear hug.
While playing, Horton was generally acknowledged as the strongest man in the game; injuries and age were little more than minor inconveniences. Chicago Blackhawks left wing Bobby Hull declared, "There were defencemen you had to fear because they were vicious and would slam you into the boards from behind, for one, Eddie Shore. But you respected Tim Horton because he didn't need that type of intimidation. He used his tremendous strength and talent to keep you in check."
In 1962, he scored three goals and 13 assists in 12 playoff games, setting a Leafs team record for playoff points by a defenceman. This record was tied in 1978 by Ian Turnbull (who played 13 games); but was not broken until 1994, when David Ellett registered 18 points (albeit in 18 games).
At age 41, Horton signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1971 for an estimated $100,000, the largest contract to date for the five-year-old franchise.[6]
In spite of Horton's age, 42, and considerable nearsightedness, former Leafs general manager Punch Imlach of the Sabres acquired Horton in the intra-league draft and signed him in 1972.[7][8] In 1973, his performance assisted the Sabres in their first playoff appearance. Horton later signed a contract extension in the off-season.[9]
While playing for the Leafs, Horton wore the number 7, the same number worn by King Clancy from 1931–32 to 1936–37. The team declared both Horton and Clancy honoured players at a ceremony on November 21, 1995, but did not retire the number 7 from team use; despite this, it became an Honoured Jersey Number,[10][11] abiding by Leafs honours policy.[12] Horton wore number 2 in Buffalo (as Rick Martin already had the number 7), which was retired.
Horton believed he took too many early career penalties because of his "hot
In 1964, Horton opened his first Tim Horton Doughnut Shop in Hamilton, Ontario on Ottawa Street.[13] He added a few of his culinary creations to the initial menu. By 1968, Tim Horton had become a multimillion-dollar franchise system. Horton's previous business ventures included both a hamburger restaurant and Studebaker auto dealership in Toronto.
Upon Horton's death in 1974, his business partner Ron Joyce bought out the Horton family's shares for $1 million and took over as sole owner of the existing chain, which had 40 stores at the time,[14] and later expanded to nearly 4,600 stores in Canada alone by 2013. Joyce's son, Ron Joyce, Jr., is married to Horton's eldest daughter.[15]
