 Born in Westlock, Alberta, Polis grew up in Dapp, a nearby prairie town with a population of 75.With few other children in town, he would bring his pet Labrador Retriever to chase down and retrieve the puck.Statements such as "Greg's dog used to chase pucks for him in his childhood" - with associated cartoon - were an annual highlight of his Topps and O-Pee-Chee hockey cards in the early 1970s, the repetition of which became a source of amusement to hockey card collectors over the years.