You would think that a pro hockey player would be most well-known for his play on the ice. Not if you're Tim Horton.
The Toronto Maple Leafs great played in the NHL from 1949 to 1974. He won four Stanley Cup titles, and was known for his extreme toughness despite his relatively-small-by-hockey-standards size at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds. He also just happens to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Before his tragic death in a car accident in 1974, Horton co-founded the Tim Hortons restaurant chain. The Canadian chain, known mainly for its coffee and donuts, started out small and is now the largest restaurant chain in Canada. It has over 3,000 locations across the country and locations in other countries, including the United States. Tim Horton's co-founder Ron Joyce is now a multi-millionaire.
"He was a hockey player first and foremost, and a very good friend and teammate," former Maple Leaf Dave Keon told Sports Illustrated's Adrian Dater. "The business stuff was a distant second, but I know he cared about his shops. I know he and Ronnie (Joyce) worked hard at it, but I'm sure he'd have been a bit surprised at how big it became."
It's sad that when Tim Hortons goers are in the restaurant drinking their cups of joe, they probably don't know much about the man behind the chain's name.
Check out Dater's feature for more on the great Tim Horton.
