Griffin-Hefford and his buddy and former Western Kings teammate Jordan King are suiting up for the Amherst Ramblers in their final year of junior hockey with hopes of hoisting the championship trophy in the Maritime Junior A Hockey League.
A native of Corner Brook, Griffin-Hefford spent all of his junior hockey career with the St. Stephen Aces before asking for a trade at the end of last season with hopes of getting a chance to play for a championship.
“It’s a great organization and I’m really enjoying it here,” Griffin-Hefford said Monday about the early going with his new team.
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Griffin-Hefford and King are rooomates for the season so they will rekindle some great memories from both on and off the ice. They won’t be playing on the same line, at least to start the season, since both are centreman, but they are expected to see a fair chunk of ice-time together on the power play.
Being able to go to school in person at Mount Allison University and being able to have eight courses done before he attends university somewhere next winter has been a blessing off the ice so he figures things will only get better as he gets settled into his new life as a Rambler.
A physical presence at six-foot-three, 202 pounds, Griffin-Hefford knows he must be an offensive force if he wants to be an impact player for the Ramblers so he’s just going to keep focused on making the most of his scoring chances.
“I definitely have to try and put as many points up on the board as possible,’ he said.
A feather in his cap coming into a new organization is the fact the Ramblers organization believe he has good leadership qualities, naming him one of three alternate captains for home games.
“It’s a great honour to be recognized as a leader coming into a new organization like this,” he said. “There’s a lot of us so we’re just going to do our best to be the best we can and show the younger guys how everything is done.”
Ramblers coach and general manager Jeff LeBlanc hasn’t seen much of his new recruit since coaching the big forward on a Hockey Canada East squad at a showcase event last year, but he knows he has a player who has a strong work ethic and willing to pay a price to achieve success so he’s happy to have him in the mix.
LeBlanc was also impressed with the fact Griffin-Hefford came into camp in tremendous shape, giving him the feeling that this guy is all business and wants to be a big part of a championship run.
“He’s one of those kids who leads by example,” LeBlanc said.
