“We have lost a true pioneer,” said Glenn Healy, executive director of the NHL Alumni Association and a close friend
of Baun and his family. “He wasn’t simply a hockey player. He was a dynamic player who was as effective off the rink
as he was on it.
The team announced on Tuesday that Baun had died at the age of 86. No cause of death was given.
Baun won the Stanley Cup four times during the 1960s, but his most memorable event occurred on April 23, 1964.
He departed Game 6 against the Detroit Red Wings in the third period after breaking his fibula, having the leg
frozen, and then returning in overtime to score the game-winning goal, tying the best-of-seven series at 3-3. The
Leafs won the next game, securing their third Stanley Cup in a row.
Paul Henderson was with the Red Wings when Baun scored that goal and stated he’d never forget it.
“Everyone had so much respect for him,” Henderson explained. “He played tough on the rink but was not filthy. He’d
hit you and do his work. But he wouldn’t spear or hack you. “He came to play every night.”
Baun was a pathfinder. In an era when players had little rights, he sought advice from a lawyer about a contract and
even refused to sign it one year, much to the disgust of Maple Leafs general manager Punch Imlach. Baun and Ted
Lindsay, the founder of the NHL Players’ Association, collaborated in its formation.
His brawl with Chicago’s Reggie Fleming, which occurred in a penalty box shared by players from both teams,
influenced the league’s decision to establish two penalty boxes.
Baun was an early investor in his friend and fellow legend Tim Horton’s restaurant venture. That was a Scarborough
burger joint that made its money by selling coffee and doughnuts. Baun was a proponent of the drive-thru after
seeing one in Florida, pushing Horton and co-founder Ron Joyce to include it in the Tim Hortons experience when
the company’s first doughnut shop debuted in Hamilton. Baun had several locations, but his Tim Hortons franchise
on Whites Road and Highway 2 was historically one of the most profitable.
