Tim Horton 1961-62 Parkhurst #1

Tim Horton was going into his tenth full season with the Toronto Maple Leafs for his 1961-62 National Hockey League season. Although never the recipient of an individual award during his NHL playing days, Horton has been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, has his number retired by two NHL teams and is still among the top 25 for most games played during a career.

Tim Horton 1961-62 Parkhurst #1

The first card in the 51 card 1961-62 Parkhurst hockey card set belongs to Tim Horton. The Horton hockey card is the second most valuable in the set, behind the equally valued Gordie Howe card and the Dave Keon rookie card. Book value for the card is set at $200.

The back of the card shows Tim’s stats from the 1960-61 NHL season. He played 57 regular season games on the point for the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring six goals and assisting on 15 for 21 points. Toronto finished second overall in the six team league but were upset in the opening round by the Detroit Red Wings. The Maple Leafs won the first game of the series in overtime before the Red Wings won the next four.

Tim Horton – Playing Career

Although he was a regular 1952-53, Horton played in the NHL as far back as 1949-50. Horton played until his death near the end of the 1973-74 season. Tim played for the Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres. Over that time, he played in 1,445 regular season games, scoring 115 and assisting on 403 for 518 points. He still stands 21^st overall for most regular season games played during a NHL career, 14 games more than Mike Gartner and eleven less than Glen Wesley.

From 1961 to 1968, Tim played 486 consecutive games. It was the most by a defenseman until Karlis Skrastins of the Colorado Avalanche topped the mark in 2007. Skrastins died in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash.

With the Maple Leafs, Horton was a member of four Stanley Cup winning teams. He played an important role in Toronto’s three consecutive championships from 1961-62 to 1963-64. Tim was also there for the 1966-67 victory, the last time the Maple Leafs were even in a Stanley Cup final series. In the 1961-62 playoffs, Horton scored three goals and assisted on 13 for 16 points over 12 games. The 16 points remained a team record for defensemen until Ian Turnbull broke it in the 1970’s.  

Before his NHL career took off, Horton had an outstanding season in the American Hockey League with the King Clancy coached Pittsburgh Hornets in 1951-52. Pittsburgh reached the finals against the Providence Reds and won the Calder Cup championship in six games. During the regular season, Tim placed third in the AHL with 146 PIM. He would never play in the minors again after that season.

Tim Horton was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977. Nearly two decades later, his number 7 was honoured by the Maple Leafs and his number 2 was retired by the Buffalo Sabres.