OTTAWA, ON – On Wednesday, September 27th at Lansdowne Park’s Horticulture Building, the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame is inducting five new members to its local sports shrine – Carol Anne Chenard (soccer), Murray Costello (hockey), Tim Higgins (hockey), Earle Morris (curling) and Jill Perry (boxing). Each Tuesday and Thursday until the event, the Sport Hall will post an article on an aspect of the event. Today’s article is on 2023 Inductee, Tim Higgins.
2023 SPORT HALL INDUCTEE – TIM HIGGINS:
Tim Higgins was born and raised in Ottawa. He became a junior star with the hometown Ottawa 67’s. Then he went on to play parts of 11 seasons in the NHL. Maybe some of his most productive days in life came in his post-hockey career and the years he spent as an addiction counsellor. He took many of the hard lessons he learned during his battles with addiction and helped many overcome their demons.
Tim grew up in Ottawa’s west end and was a star right from the beginning. He played Peewee hockey for the Ottawa Junior 67’s, one of Ontario’s top Peewee teams ever. The team played more than 100 games and never lost. Four members of that team went on to play in the NHL.
Junior hockey followed. Tim was an important player on some of the best junior teams Ottawa has ever seen. NHL scouts flocked to his games. In 1978 he was chosen tenth overall by the Chicago Black Hawks. That same year, at age 20, he made his NHL debut.
Tim Higgins played more than 700 games in the NHL and tallied more than 350 points. He was a solid, dependable two-way player. He remained in hockey for nearly two more decades as a scout and coach. For a time, he returned to the Ottawa 67’s as an assistant to the legendary Brian Kilrea.
Tim also spent many years as an addiction counsellor in Ottawa, where he returned after his hockey days ended. He became an important ally for many people, including athletes and former athletes who battled addiction. He remains proud of the unsung work he has done away from hockey.
He is also proud of becoming part of Ottawa’s Sport Hall of Fame and being able to share the moment with his three daughters and seven grandchildren. “To have this opportunity means the world to me,” he says. “I’m proud to be from Ottawa and proud to be representing the city in our hall of fame.”
Timothy Raymond Higgins (born February 7, 1958) is a Canadian retired former professional ice hockey player who played 706 career NHL games with the Chicago Black Hawks, New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings. He played junior hockey with his hometown Ottawa 67’s and was drafted in the first round of the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft, 10th overall by the Black Hawks.
SEPTEMBER 27 OTTAWA SPORT HALL OF FAME INDUCTION EVENING
Tickets for the Wednesday, September 27th Induction Ceremony are available for purchase now!
In the lead-up to the banquet, full-length features on each of the inductees will be posted on the Hall’s new website at OttawaSportHall.ca and shared through the Ottawa Sports Pages, the Hall’s new partner.
Event tickets are $125 per person or $1,200 for a table of 10, while premium tables go for $2,000 and additional sponsorship opportunities are available. See OttawaSportHall.ca for more details.
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Contacts:
Dave Best
Chair, Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame
613-799-9415
Chair@OttawaSportHall.ca
Terry Marcotte
Director, Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame
terrymarcotte1@gmail.com
About the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame:
The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization, which documents, curates and celebrates outstanding achievement in local sport heritage. The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame is overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors which works in close partnership with the City of Ottawa to maintain and preserve Ottawa’s rich sporting legacies. Each year, the Hall of Fame Board receives nominations from the public, and selects new inductees to be represented in the Hall. The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame is located at City Hall. It contains artifacts, photographs and memorabilia honouring our sporting heritage, as well as commemorative plaques honouring its more than 275 inductees.
Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame 
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