Mike Walton

A rebel who married Conn Smythe’s granddaughter, Mike Walton didn’t endear himself to Punch Imlach.  Refusing to cut his hair or sideburns, he was ambushed by a tipsy George Armstrong and Tim Horton, who took the hair by force!  Moving between the major and minor leagues, he played 12 playoff games in 1967 and got his name on the Stanley Cup.  A row with Leaf management was complicated by his familial relationship and he was shipped off to Boston.  He slowly regained his form and won a second Cup in 1972.  Signing with the WHA’s Minnesota Fighting Saints in 1973, he became that league’s top scorer.  He returned to the NHL with Vancouver in 1975.  In 1977-78, he had 66 points in 65 games but started to taper off.  After stints in St. Louis, Boston and Chicago, he retired in 1980.

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