It’s Throwback Thursday today!
And in honour of one of Wallaceburg’s own entering NHL camp with the Boston Bruins, we’ve reached back into the archives of the former Chatham-Kent Daily Post to find an article, photo and video of 16-year-old Seth Griffith, freshly drafted by the London Knights back in 2009.
Here is the video:
Here are exerts from the 2009 article:
Seth Griffith took a step closer to fulfilling his dream of playing in the NHL on Saturday, May 2 when he was chosen 65th overall in the OHL draft by the London Knights. Griffith told the Chatham-Kent Daily Post that he knows the work is just beginning.
“Now the works begins,” Griffith said on May 6 after returning home from a day of classes at Wallaceburg District Secondary School. “It’s going to be tough now… playing Junior anywhere, not just the OHL, any Junior team is going to be hard to make. I’m going to be in the gym mostly every day.”
The Wallaceburg teen said he had a feeling he was going to get picked by London, but tried to keep his mind off of it the day of the draft.
“I tried to stay away from the computer as much as possible but I kinda worked my way over there every once in a while,” he said. “About 15 minutes after (being chosen, Knights General Manager) Mark Hunter called me. He told me that he was happy to get me.”
Griffith said he knows he needs to work on his explosiveness in order to make the jump to the OHL.
“Most people say that it’s my skating… I’m fast, but it takes me longer than others to get to that top speed,” he said.
Currently a member of the Wallaceburg Red Devils Junior ‘B’ Lacrosse team, Griffith played last hockey season with the Chatham-Kent Cyclones AAA Minor Midget team and is playing spring hockey now as well.
Although Griffith has enjoyed a lot of success with playing lacrosse, having been a captain of provincial lacrosse teams and area clubs as well, but he said his focus is primarily on hockey.
“The NHL has always been my dream, to play in that league,” he said. “Earlier I was just having fun playing both, but my mindset has always been on playing hockey.”
Griffith said he hopes through hard work and determination, he will have the chance to make the Knights squad for next season.
“I just got to go in there and work my hardest and hopefully I get my chance and prove them that I should be on the team,” he said.
Griffith said he expects to attend a rookie training camp for the Knights sometime at the end of May.
