Si Griffis

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Si Griffis
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1950
Si Griffis, Vancouver Millionaires.jpg
Griffis with the Vancouver Millionaires
Born (1883-09-22)September 22, 1883
Onaga, Kansas, U.S.
Died July 9, 1950(1950-07-09) (aged 66)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Vancouver Millionaires
Kenora Thistles
Playing career 1901–1919

Silas Seth "Sox" Griffis (September 22, 1883 – July 9, 1950) was a Canadian athlete of the early 20th century. In ice hockey, Griffis was a two-time Stanley Cup winner, with the 1907 Kenora Thistles and the 1915 Vancouver Millionaires. He is an inductee of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Born in Onaga, Kansas, Griffis moved with his family to Rat Portage, Ontario, where he excelled in many sports, including ice hockey. It was here that he became a player for the local amateur hockey club, the Rat Portage Thistles.

Playing career[]

Notable for his speed, Griffis played both rover and cover-point in the seven-man configuration of the day, and led the Thistles to league titles in 1903 and 1905, as well to a Stanley Cup challenge in 1905 against the powerful Ottawa Silver Seven. Griffis scored three goals in the three game series, although the Thistles lost to Ottawa.

Now renamed the Kenora Thistles, the team remained a powerhouse, and Griffis 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. The Wanderers, however, issued a second challenge for the cup in March 1907, which the Thistles lost.

Griffis later played for the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association starting in 1912, moving back to defence and was team captain in 1914–15, the year the Millionaires themselves won the Cup. Griffis injured his leg that season and was not able to play in the final series against the Ottawa Senators. The leg did not heal well and Griffis' ice time declined until he finally retired from professional hockey in 1919.

Retirement[]

Griffis played in 154 senior matches, scoring 84 goals.

In later life, Griffis excelled as both a competitive golfer and bowler. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in July 1950. He died in Vancouver, British Columbia, that same month. He is also a member of the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.

Playing style[]

Griffis in 1912–13.

Si Griffis, standing at 6 feet and one inch, was one of the tallest players of his era but he was nonetheless also one of its fastest skaters.

"I can get away faster than most of them, and then they have to pass me, which is some feat. Of course, I'm going to win."

– Griffis betting on himself before the 1913 PCHA speed skating contest.[1]

During the 1912–13 PCHA season – on January 15, 1913 – league executive Frank Patrick organized a speed skating contest between four players considered to be the fastest in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association: Si Griffis, Ken Mallen, Fred "Cyclone" Taylor and Ernie "Moose" Johnson. Before the contest Griffis was confident regarding his chances of winning it all, due to his quick first steps, but in the final heat he was nonetheless beaten by Ken Mallen of the New Westminster Royals by a slim margin.[1][2] In the semi-finals Griffis had finished in front of Moose Johnson, whereas Mallen in turn had defeated Cyclone Taylor.

Due to his strong skating, which he used to his advantage both as a rover and as a defenceman (cover-point), Griffis 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 of players. Mike Jay, profiling Griffis in the December 30, 1913 issue of the Vancouver Daily World, also praised him for his endurance and recalled a game against the Montreal Wanderers in 1907 where Griffis had played through the contest with a broken nose, and where he was so badly cut up and used up that he could not remember anything from the game even six years afterwards.[3]

Career statistics[]

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1901–02 Rat Portage Thistles MNWHA 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1902–03 Rat Portage Thistles MNWHA 5 5 0 5 — — — — — —
1902–03 Rat Portage Thistles St-Cup — — — — — 2 0 0 0 —
1903–04 Rat Portage Thistles MNWHA 12 12 2 14 — — — — — —
1904–05 Rat Portage Thistles MHA 8 15 0 15 3 — — — — —
1904–05 Rat Portage Thistles St-Cup — — — — — 3 3 0 3 3
1905–06 Kenora Thistles MHA 9 9 0 9 — — — — — —
1906–07 Kenora Thistles MPHL 6 5 0 5 — — — — — —
1906–07* Kenora Thistles St-Cup — — — — — 4 1 0 1 6
1911–12 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 15 8 0 8 18 — — — — —
1912–13 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 14 10 3 13 30 — — — — —
1913–14 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 13 2 3 5 21 — — — — —
1914–15* Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 17 2 3 5 32 — — — — —
1915–16 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 18 7 5 12 12 — — — — —
1916–17 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 23 7 4 11 34 — — — — —
1917–18 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 8 2 6 8 0 2 0 0 0 0
1917–18 Vancouver Millionaires St-Cup — — — — — 5 1 0 1 9
1918–19 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 2 0 2 2 0 2 1 1 2 0
MHL/MPHL totals 23 29 0 29 — — — — — —
PCHA totals 110 38 26 64 147 4 1 1 2 0
St-Cup totals — — — — — 14 5 0 5 —

* Stanley Cup Champion.

References[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b "Race for speedy hockey players arranged" Vancouver Daily World. Jan. 14, 1913 (pg. 14). Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  2. ^ "Mallen is winner of skating races" Vancouver Sun. Jan. 16, 1913 (pg. 10). Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  3. ^ "Thumb Nail Sketches of Prominent Players" Vancouver Daily World. Dec. 30, 1913 (pg. 19) Retrieved 2021-09-02.

External links[]

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