Outdoor Public Art - Table of Contents

"Tim Horton"
Statue
Canalside, Buffalo, NY
By Jerry McKenna
When coach Punch Imlach was summarily fired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1970 after winning four Stanley Cups for their team in the 60s (Toronto hasn’t won a Cup since), he came to Buffalo ...

Prior to the 1972-73 season, Imlach managed to pluck one of his former prized assets off the waiver wire  - Tim Horton was being let go from the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo snatched him up, even offering Horton the then unheard of sum of $100,000 to come and play in Buffalo. It was a steal. Horton was one of the strongest and toughest players on the Toronto roster… he was so intimidating that nobody wanted to fight him. His character and his presence in the Leafs locker room helped catapult them to four championships, and they were a dominant force for most of that decade in the NHL.

The record will show that he only scored one goal in the 124 games he played for the Buffalo Sabres. But his steadying influence, his leadership in the locker room, his mentoring of young defensemen such as Jim Schoenfeld, Bill Hajt and Jerry Korab, were invaluable as the ragtag Sabres made their improbable run to the playoffs in only the third season of their existence.

The Sabres went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals in 1974-75, losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games. Might the Sabres have won it all had Horton still been alive and in a Buffalo uniform? One will never know but the discussion makes for great hockey fodder, and one thing is for sure: the thuggish players who constituted the Flyers lineup would not have messed with the Sabres with Horton on the blue line. He was a player to be feared. - Andrew Kulyk, "Tim Horton Immortalized: 'It Was a Good Day' "Art Voice,  October 31, 2014
Jerry McKenna is an American sculptor whose work can be found in museums, churches, stadiums, halls of fame, universities, parks, public buildings, and private collections around the world. He is most noted for his bronze sculptures of military leaders, religious figures and sports stars .... The French Connection (ice hockey) (Rick Martin, Gilbert Perrault, and René Robert) at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY. - Wikipedia: Jerry McKenna (Online May 2015)
Horton is paused in mid-skate with his left leg back and his stick close to the ice, as if concentrating intently on some invisible puck. The piece has a compelling sense of motion, is about as selfie-ready as “Shark Girl” and brings Buffalonians face-to-face, whether they like it or not, with an important figure in the sports and food culture of the region. - Colin Dabkowski, "Advertisement or not, Tim Horton statue adds to waterfront landscape"  The Buffalo News,  October 31, 2014

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Photos and their arrangement © 2015 Chuck LaChiusa
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