John Grant Senior-Part 1
John Grant Senior
“My lacrosse stick was my Best Friend”
(Part 1)
(Written by Rad Joseph)
“A Magician with Wood or Plastic”
John Grant was born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario. He played both lacrosse and hockey.
John was a member of the Peterborough PCOs Junior “A” team that won the Minto Cup in 1972 (They lost the 1971 Minto Cup in overtime in the 7th game of the series). John Grant’s performance in the 1972 series won him the Jim McConaghy Memorial Cup as the Most Valuable Player of the series (scoring 15 points in 4 games). In three years of Junior “A” lacrosse John scored 93 goals, added 204 assists for 297 points in 70 regular season games. In the playoffs, he scored 43 goals, added 80 assists for 113 points in 36 games.
When his junior lacrosse career ended with a Minto Cup championship, John Grant began playing for the Senior “A” Peterborough Lakers who won the 1973 Mann Cup. Grant would be part of two more Mann Cup championship teams (1982 and 1984). When the Lakers won the Mann Cup in 1984, John was awarded the Mike Kelley Memorial trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the series. His Major lacrosse career spanned 12 seasons with Peterborough over the period from 1973-1992. In 203 games played at the Major, Senior and pro level, he amassed 245 goals, 506 assists for 751 regular season points. During the playoffs, in 107 games, Grant scored 105 goals, added 191 assists for a total of 296 points.
John Grant was also a star player with Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League in 1974 and 1975. He played 86 games scoring 142 goals and recording 239 assists for a total of 381 points.
In addition, he was a top-level player with the Canadian National Field Lacrosse team representing Canada in 1978, 1982 and 1986. The 1978 team won the World Championship in Manchester, England.
John Grant was recognized as the Senior Male Athlete of the Year award for the City of Peterborough in 1984.
In regards to hockey, John Grant played Junior “B” hockey with the Peterborough Lions in 1969-70, the Oshawa Crushmen in 1970-71 and Senior “A” hockey with Belleville in 1976-77 and Lindsay in 1981-82.
John Grant has been inducted into three Sports Hall of Fame as a Player
- Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997
- Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame in 2004
- Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2008
John Grant was also a member of the Peterborough PCOs Junior “A” team inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame (Winners of four consecutive Minto Cups – 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 – John played on the 1972 team)
John Grant is still a huge fan of the game. He continues to contribute in his role as a Member of the Board of Directors with the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers of Major Series Lacrosse.
Career Statistics
REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFS
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YEAR TEAM LEAGUE GP GO ASS PTS PIM - GP GO ASS PTS PIM
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1968 HASTINGS SENIOR A 1 0 0 0 0 - STATS UNAVAILABLE
1969 CAMPBELLFORD JUNIOR B & - 22 48 70 21 - XX 2 9 11 4
1970 PETERBOROUGH JUNIOR A - 5 12 17 6 - DID NOT PLAY
1970 PETERBOROUGH JUNIOR A 25 35 65 100 49 - 3 9 5 14 4
1970 PETERBOROUGH SENIOR A 2 2 4 6 0 - DID NOT PLAY
1971 PETERBOROUGH JUNIOR A 18 18 56 74 30 - 14 11 22 33 42
1971 PETERBOROUGH SENIOR A DID NOT PLAY - 2 1 0 1 0
1972 PETERBOROUGH JUNIOR A 27 35 71 106 45 - 19 23 53 76 8
1973 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 12 10 27 37 10 - 11 14 15 29 25
1974 PHILADELPHIA NLL PRO 39 78 105 183 26 - 12 24 26 50 4
1975 PHILADELPHIA NLL PRO 47 64 134 198 52 - DID NOT PLAY
1978 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 2 0 3 3 0 - DID NOT PLAY
1979 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 9 9 21 30 0 - 13 13 23 36 6
1980 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 15 16 27 43 71 - 11 9 33 42 6
1982 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 15 19 23 42 6 - 14 10 22 32 2
1983 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 18 15 56 71 6 - 14 11 27 38 6
1984 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 19 17 55 72 4 - 12 12 21 33 4
1986 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 8 7 15 22 2 - 10 7 12 19 0
1988 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 1 1 2 3 0 - 4 3 5 8 0
1989 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 13 7 31 38 10 - 4 1 7 8 0
1990 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 1 0 0 0 0 - DID NOT PLAY
1992 PETERBOROUGH MAJOR 2 0 3 3 2 - DID NOT PLAY
---- ------------ ---------- -- --- --- --- --- - -- -- --- --- ---
PRO/MAJOR/SENIOR TOTALS 204 245 506 751 189 -107 105 191 296 53
JUNIOR A TOTALS 70 93 204 297 130 - 36 43 80 113 54
1969 - STATISTICS ACCUMULATED IN O.L.A. JUNIOR B WITH CAMPBELLFORD
NOT INCLUDED IN FINAL STATISTICS
1969 - 6TH IN SCORING IN O.L.A. JUNIOR B CENTRAL DIVISION
1972 - MEMBER OF MINTO CUP WINNING PETERBOROUGH TEAM
1972 - 8TH IN SCORING IN O.L.A. JUNIOR A SERIES
1972 - JIM McCONAGHY MEMORIAL CUP WINNER AS M.V.P. IN MINTO CUP
1974 - 4TH IN SCORING IN PRO SERIES
1974 - SECOND ALL-STAR CENTRE IN PRO LACROSSE SERIES
1975 - 6TH IN SCORING IN PRO LACROSSE SERIES
1975 - SECOND ALL-STAR CENTRE IN PRO LACROSSE SERIES
1983 - 9TH IN SCORING IN O.L.A. MAJOR LACROSSE SERIES
1973, 1982, 1984 - MEMBER OF MANN CUP WINNING PETERBOROUGH TEAM
1984 - MIKE KELLEY MEMORIAL TROPHY AS M.V.P. IN MANN CUP