Charlie Liffiton

Charlie Liffiton
Born	December 14, 1878(1878-12-14) Montreal, QC, CAN
Died	1941
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight	170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position	Left Wing, Defenceman
Shot	Left
Played for	WPHL Pittsburgh Bankers IPHL Portage Lakes Hockey Club NHA Montreal Wanderers
Playing career	1899–1907

Charles A. Liffiton (December 14, 1878–1941) was an early professional ice hockey player. Over the span of his career, hee played for the amateur Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA), the professional Pittsburgh Bankers of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League and the Portage Lakes Hockey Club of the International Professional Hockey League.

Biography

Charlie was the son of a jeweler, who grew up in a family of one sister and six brothers. He worked in his father's jewelry and confection store in Montreal, but preferred playing hockey. During the 1899-1900 season of the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL). Charlie was the top scorer for his Montreal Amateur Athletic Association and the league's eighth leading scorer posting 8 goals in 8 games. However during the 1901-02 season, he helped the MAAA win the CAHL championship and later defeat the Winnipeg Victorias and capture the Stanley Cup. He was also one of the top ten league scorers for the third season in a row.

Liffiton played only one game of the 1902-03 season for Montreal, before traveling to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to help the Pittsburgh Bankers win the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League championship. The WPHL was a professional league and by playing there, Charlie became a professional player. Over the next 2 season, he played for the Bankers and at least one match for the Montreal Wanderers.

In 1904, the Portgage Lakes Hockey Club of Houghton, Michigan, lured him away from the Wanderers to play the remainder of the season for $1350. He was reported to be the highest paid player in the International Professional Hockey League that year. Statistics from his hockey career show he was active through the 1906 - 07 professional exhibition season.

Family

Charlie's brother was Ernie Liffiton and is an ancestor of David Liffiton of the Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers. Around 1916, Charlie married Lena Margaret Clark. The couple had 5 children. It was also around 1916, that Charlie began his own business building automobile garages.

References

• "one of the most famous of the Canadian hockey players"
• C. Liffiton and Campbell Displayed Good Form -NY Times February 10, 1901

Stanley Cup engraving

While Charlie is a Stanley Cup champion, his name is not on the Cup. 1902 is one of the few years when only the team's name was engraved on the Cup, not each player's.