Mike Walton

Michael Robert Walton, a Canadian professional ice hockey forward, was born January 3, 1945, in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, and played in the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association from 1965 until 1979. His family lived a transient existence during his youth before settling north of Toronto in Sutton, about 50 kilometres north of the city, where they operated a restaurant and garage. He inherited the nickname "Shakey" from his father, Bob Walton, who shook his head to throw off opponents while playing hockey in England.

Walton spent each of his first two years of junior hockey with the only two champions in the brief history of the Metro Junior A League. He first attended St. Michael's College School on a partial scholarship. When the Majors' hockey program was discontinued after the 1961–62 season, Walton and the rest of the players were transferred to Neil McNeil Catholic Secondary School, where he scored 22 goals in 38 games for the Maroons in 1962–63. He subsequently entered the Toronto Maple Leafs' talent pipeline through its Ontario Hockey Association affiliation.