So Tim Horton's is basically the Canadian Dunkin Donuts?
Tim Horton's is more than a donut shop. It has a deep-seated legacy.
When I was 15, an odd book about professional north American ice hockey came out, called 'The Hockey Compendium". It was compiled by a pair of hockey fans (and writers) that wanted to see how to apply more statistical analysis to the NHL game. Some of it is iffy, some a bit short of brilliant, some of it unwieldy, and some just plain odd. But there's a humor and underlying passion for the game. These guys did not want cold impartial stats to get in the way of of how the game is perceived. Some of what they came up with, particularly about goaltending, is quite relevant. Anyway. I learned an awful lot about hockey from this book in terms of history and I learned a lot of things about a lot of players I read about previously in raw stats only. I still have it.
The writers often relate stories and anecdotes in the book. One is about how in they remember hearing about Tim Horton's death after he played an NHL game, and how the jingle for his donut shop was still played on the radio, and it was eerie and sad.
Horton was a respected NHL player. His name wasn't even Tim or Timothy, bizarrely. He played defense for several notable teams. Mostly however for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Off the ice, he started several businesses, including a donut shop franchise.
After a 1974 game in which his Buffalo Sabres played his old team, the Leafs, and lost, Horton stuck around for a while since he had friends there still. His team had lost, but Horton, even injured as he was and into his 40s (he started in the NHL in 1952, playing four games before earning a regular spot in 1953) , he was a star of the game. Unfortunately, Tim had been drinking. And he decided to drive his De Tomaso Pantera back to Buffalo that early morning, despite pleas by his brother.
At about 4AM on the QEW in Ontario, whether he knew it or not, Horton was in effect being chased by Police for (very) excessive speed. I have read "in excess of'" 130 mph.. Most likely, he didn't know he was pursued; he was driving at such a high rate of speed that pursuing Police couldn't even keep him in sight.
His car failed to negotiate a turn, entered the median and flipped. Horton was ejected from the car and ended up almost 40 meters from the wreck. He was transferred to hospital where Miles Gilbert Horton was pronounced dead.
Horton was an elite player and fan favorite who was ultimately flawed like the rest of us. All this backstory to a donut shop!