HOCKEY NOTES

Si Griffis

Defense

6-1 195

b. 22 Sep 1883 Onega, Kansas
d. Jul 1950

Silas Seth Griffis came to Canada from the States with his parents. After a brief stay in St. Catherines, Ontario, the Griffis clan moved on to Rat Portage (now Kenora), of all places. It was in this rugged, tiny northern Canadian town that Griffis discovered the game of hockey.

A big man for his day, Griffis first played organized hockey as a rover for the Rat Portage/Kenora Thistles. He turned pro in Kenora, and moved to the cover-point position. In 1907, Kenora defeated the Montreal Wanderers for the Stanley Cup but were quickly dethroned in a rematch. Griffis took this opportunity to move to Vancouver, surprising everyone when he retired from hockey. The citizens of Kenora gave him a large purse of gold and offered him a home if he ever decided to move back to the northern Ontario town.

After a four-year sabbatical, Griffis decided to try a comeback with Frank Patrick's new Vancouver Millionaires. On opening night, Griffis played right defense for all 60 minutes, chalking up two goals and two assists. He captained Vancouver until his second and final retirement in 1919.

Griffis was a powerful skater, rated as one of the swiftest big men ever to play hockey on the west coast. His quiet leadership by example, coupled with a superlative technical grasp of the game, made him one of the most effective blue-liners of his time. He would have been an All-Star in any era.

Griffis made the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950.

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