Si Griffis

Lore & Background

Griffis moved with his family to Rat Portage, Ontario, where he excelled in many sports. He played both rover and cover-point in the seven-man configuration of the day. When the Manitoba & Northwestern Hockey Association formed in 1902, Griffis joined the Rat Portage Thistles and led them to its first league titles in 1903, after which it issued a challenge for the Stanley Cup against the Ottawa Silver Seven, losing a best-of-three in two games straight. The team's second league title came in 1905, along with another losing Stanley Cup challenge to the Silver Seven. Griffis scored a natural hat trick to lead the Thistles to a victory in the first game of the three-game series, and added a goal in the second.

Renamed the Kenora Thistles in 1907, the team remained a powerhouse, and Griffis (along with fellow future Hall of Famers Art Ross and Tommy Smith) was a key member of the Thistles' January 1907 Stanley Cup winning team when they defeated the Montreal Wanderers in a two-game total goal series. After taking a hiatus of several years from the game—save for an unknown number of games for the Nelson Hockey Club of the West Kootenay League in 1910—Griffis was signed out of retirement by Frank Patrick in 1912 as his defence partner for the Vancouver Millionaires. A noted leader, Griffis was named team captain in 1914–15, the year the Millionaires themselves won the Cup. Griffis broke his leg in the last regular season match of that year, and was not able to play in the final series against the Ottawa Senators, but recovered enough to play in two exhibition games for a group of PCHL All-Stars.

Griffis played four more seasons for Vancouver, although injuries started seriously affecting his playing time by 1918; he played effectively in the Millionaires' PCHA playoff win and its run as a finalist for the Stanley Cup that same year. Signed in 1919 on an emergency basis at age 35, he played only two games for Vancouver in 1919, as well as in its playoff loss that season to the Seattle Metropolitans. Being noted by observers as 'having little left,' it was Griffis' last professional action.

Reader's Guide

Si Griffis is notable as a two-time Stanley Cup champion and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, recognized for his speed and pioneering style of play. Standing at 6 feet 1 inch, he was one of the tallest players of his era but also one of its fastest skaters. He played both rover and cover-point, and was a pioneering player in the art of carrying the puck up the ice from defence, instead of shooting or passing it up the ice to the forwards, which had been the main practice during previous generations. His speed was demonstrated in a January 1913 speed skating contest organized by Frank Patrick, where Griffis finished ahead of Ernie 'Moose' Johnson in the semi-finals, though he was beaten by Ken Mallen in the final. Griffis also showed notable endurance, playing through a 1907 game against the Montreal Wanderers with a broken nose, after which he could not remember anything from the game even six years afterwards. Beyond hockey, he was an accomplished rower, medalist in the 1905 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, and later excelled as a competitive golfer and bowler. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in July 1950, the same month he died, and was also inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.

Did You Know?

• Griffis was born in Onaga, Kansas, and moved with his family to Rat Portage, Ontario.
• He scored a natural hat trick in the 1905 Stanley Cup challenge against the Ottawa Silver Seven.
• He broke his leg in the last regular season match of 1914–15 and missed the Stanley Cup final series.
• He was a medalist in the 1905 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta as a rower.