Teammates for two seasons with the Western Kings, Griffin-Hefford and King will share even more time together when the 2017-18 Maritime Junior Hockey League campaign kicks into high gear.
Griffin-Hefford, captain of the St. Stephen Aces last season, was dealt to the Amherst Ramblers for Ryan MacDonald, a second-round pick in 2017, and future considerations in a transaction that was finalized on June 10.
King was the leading scorer for the Ramblers squad that lost to the Truro Bearcats in five games in the Eastlink South Division best-of-seven final series last season.
Griffin-Hefford, a native of Corner Brook, considers the Aces organization a classy group of people and he enjoyed his two years with the team, but with one more year of junior hockey eligibility left he wanted a change of scenery and a shot at winning a title, so he requested a trade with Aces management at his exit interview at the end of the team’s short playoff run last season.
“For my last year I wanted a bit of a change and I figured going to Amherst would be the best for me,” Griffin-Hefford said. “They are going to have a good team next year and I’ll be able to attend school in person and go to Mount Allison University.”
He’s going to hit the gym over the summer months to keep himself in shape, but he also plans to have some fun with some of his good buddies who he doesn’t see much of these days because he’s away playing hockey.
He’s excited about having King as a teammate because they had some chemistry when played together with the Kings.
“We started hockey together and we’re going to be finishing junior together, so it’s going to be pretty exciting,” he said.
