The Hockey Legend: Tim Horton

   Tim Horton was one of hockey's all-time best players. The people of Cochrane decided to honour him for the fame he brought on his hometown.  Opened in 1996, now more than 800 heirlooms of the player are housed in the #137 Locomotive and associated coaches.

Miles Gilbert Legend "Tim" Horton was born on January 12, 1930 at the Lady Minto Hospital in Cochrane.

Tim actually began his hockey career at the age of 5, in Duparquet Quebec, where the family briefly relocated. After 2 or 3 years, the Horton family returned to Cochrane and Tim continued to play there until he was about 15, when the family moved to Sudbury. He then played for the Copper Cliff Redmen of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (1946-47).   In the 1947-48 season Tim moved on to the St. Michel's College Majors on a scholarship. St. Mikes was an integral part of the Toronto Maple Leaf farm system, and he was placed on the Leaf's reserve list in 1947.   In September 1949 Tim Horton began to play hockey professionally, abandoning his High School diploma.

Conn Smythe offered him a three-year contract to play with the Pittsburgh Hornets, the Leaf's American League farm club. It was in Pittsburgh that Tim met his future wife, Delores (Lori) Michalek. Tim and Lori eventually had four daughters.

Tim began his rookie season with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1952, and continued to play for the Leafs until March 3, 1970, when he was traded to the New York Rangers. A little more than a year later (June 8, 1971) during an intra-league draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted him, even though Tim had announced his retirement. He eventually signed with Pittsburgh and played for them until he was again drafted in an intra-league draft in June 1972, this time for the Buffalo Sabres.

Tim Horton was a member of the Sabres organization until he died on February 21, 1974. He was driving home to Buffalo after a game in Toronto, when he was involved in a single car accident that proved to be fatal.

Family, friends, teammates, business partners and all who had the opportunity to meet him fondly remember Tim Horton. By all accounts, Tim Horton was a confident, but modest, hockey player who made himself available to the younger players and hockey fans. He was generous and approachable, and is sadly missed by all.

The Tim Horton Arena in Cochrane was renamed as a memorial to the great legend, in September 1975, after renovations were made to include an auditorium. In December 1994, a Tim Horton's Coffee Shop franchise was finally opened in Cochrane for the first time.

Mrs. Lorie Horton passed away on December 26, 2000, will be sadly missed here in Cochrane.