Len Grosvenor

One of the least known Ottawa Senators players of the original era is hometown boy Len Grosvenor.

Grosvenor was born in Ottawa on July 21st, 1905 and lived there most of his life. He was quite an athlete, starring in football and baseball. But hockey was where his future lay, with the NHL's home team.

As a hockey player he played in 144 NHL games from 1927 through 1933, all but 16 of which were with Ottawa (12 with NY Americans and 4 with Montreal Canadiens). Unfortunately for Grosvenor his arrival with the Sens came just after the team's Stanley Cup dynasty of the early 1920s.

This forward quietly scored 9 goals and 20 points in his career. He was used as a substitute player. Way back teams used their best players for most of the game, only spelling off tired or injured players when need be with the designated sitters. It appears Grosvenor never really shook this label.

His most noteworthy inclusion in the newspaper archives appears to surround his star status as a pitcher in city baseball leagues and for an automobile accident involving another car and an old-time street car. Grosvenor was hospitalized with a crushed arm.

After his NHL career was over his career gets a little spotty. It appears he may have played in Quebec Beavers of the Can-Am League although stats do not seem to exist for this.

He definitely spent some time coaching in Noranda in northern Quebec. One source suggests Grosvenor returned to Ottawa at some point to take a civil servant's job, while another suggests he and his family remained in Noranda for many years. Another source suggested his non-hockey life was spent working on the railroads. Obviously this remains a mystery to us for now.

Len Grosvenor died in Ottawa on March 15th, 1981. His obituary suggests he died suddenly, but does not mention how. It does mention in lieu of flowers donations should have been made to the Ontario Heart Foundation.