Greg Adams was born on August 15, 1963, in Nelson, BC. Listed at 6’ 2 and 185-lbs, Adams played left wing and center at the pro and collegiate level. He played in the BCHL with the Kelowna Buckaroos from 1980-82 before joining Northern Arizona University in the NCAA for the 1982-83 season. As a freshman, Adams was over a point-per-game with 35-points in 29-games. As a sophomore, Adams led the entire nation in scoring with 44-goals and 73-points in 26-games.
Adams was never drafted into the NHL, but he was offered a contract by the New Jersey Devils after his 73-point season in Arizona. Adams joined the Devils for the 1984-85 season and put up 12-goals and 21-points in 36-games. Adams split his time between New Jersey and the Maine Mariners in the AHL. He had 35-points in 41-games in the AHL. In his sophomore season, Adams earned a full-time role with the Devils and he impressed with 35-goals and 77-points in 78-games. His performance that season got him a chance to represent Canada at the World Championship where he won a Bronze Medal.
The following season, Adams’ production faltered and he dropped to just 47-points in 72-games. His dropoff in production is likely what led to him being included in the trade that sent Patrik Sundström and a 4th round pick to New Jersey in exchange for Adams, and Kirk McLean.
Adams stayed with Vancouver for 8-seasons. In his first season with the club, he had 36-goals and 76-points in 80-games. He finished 2nd on the team trailing Tony Tanti by just one point. The next few seasons, injuries began to consistently plague Adams’. He played less than 70-games in three consecutive seasons. In 1991-92, he was relatively healthy and scored 30-goals and had 57-points in 76-games.
Adams’ most memorable seasons with Vancouver were in 1992-93 and 1993-94. In 1993, Adams had 25-goals and 56-points in 53-games. He was dominant in the playoffs with 7-goals and 13-points in 12-games. After an injury riddled regular season in 1993-94 that resulted in Adams only scoring 13-goals, he bounced back in the postseason. He most notably scored the Game 5 overtime winner against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Western Conference Final clinching Vancouver’s berth in their 2nd Stanley Cup Final. Adams then followed that up by scoring the game winning goal in Game 1 against the New York Rangers. He finished the postseason with 6-goals and 14-points in 23-games.
Adams played 31-games in the shortened 1995 season with Vancouver and registered 15-points. Midway through the season, Adams was traded to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Russ Courtnall. Adams played 4-seasons with the Stars, but didn’t surpass 50-points in any season. Adams was a UFA going into the 1998 season and chose to return to Arizona and sign with the Phoenix Coyotes. He played two seasons in the desert and then moved onto Florida for the 2000-01 season which ended up being his last in the NHL. Adams played one season overseas in Frankfurt, Germany before officially retiring from pro hockey.
All-in-all, as an undrafted free agent, Adams had a 17-year NHL Career. He played in 1056-games and scored 355-goals and 743-points. He is 21st in all-time scoring for the Vancouver Canucks.
Fun Fact: Elias Pettersson and Elias Pettersson were not the first duplicates on a Vancouver Canucks team. In 1988-89, Vancouver acquired a 2nd Greg Adams from Edmonton resulting in the players differentiating themselves by having the younger Greg Adams referred to as *Gus.* According to Adams, Gus was his fathers name and also a childhood nickname for himself.
Sorry for the potato quality photo but couldn’t find a high-res version
YVRJon
He’ll always be a favourite. I was there the night he scored in double OT to knock out the Leafs and go the final in 1994.
2 Comments
21. Greg Adams — 489GP | 179G | 190| 369P | 1988-1995
Greg Adams was born on August 15, 1963, in Nelson, BC. Listed at 6’ 2 and 185-lbs, Adams played left wing and center at the pro and collegiate level. He played in the BCHL with the Kelowna Buckaroos from 1980-82 before joining Northern Arizona University in the NCAA for the 1982-83 season. As a freshman, Adams was over a point-per-game with 35-points in 29-games. As a sophomore, Adams led the entire nation in scoring with 44-goals and 73-points in 26-games.
Adams was never drafted into the NHL, but he was offered a contract by the New Jersey Devils after his 73-point season in Arizona. Adams joined the Devils for the 1984-85 season and put up 12-goals and 21-points in 36-games. Adams split his time between New Jersey and the Maine Mariners in the AHL. He had 35-points in 41-games in the AHL. In his sophomore season, Adams earned a full-time role with the Devils and he impressed with 35-goals and 77-points in 78-games. His performance that season got him a chance to represent Canada at the World Championship where he won a Bronze Medal.
The following season, Adams’ production faltered and he dropped to just 47-points in 72-games. His dropoff in production is likely what led to him being included in the trade that sent Patrik Sundström and a 4th round pick to New Jersey in exchange for Adams, and Kirk McLean.
Adams stayed with Vancouver for 8-seasons. In his first season with the club, he had 36-goals and 76-points in 80-games. He finished 2nd on the team trailing Tony Tanti by just one point. The next few seasons, injuries began to consistently plague Adams’. He played less than 70-games in three consecutive seasons. In 1991-92, he was relatively healthy and scored 30-goals and had 57-points in 76-games.
Adams’ most memorable seasons with Vancouver were in 1992-93 and 1993-94. In 1993, Adams had 25-goals and 56-points in 53-games. He was dominant in the playoffs with 7-goals and 13-points in 12-games. After an injury riddled regular season in 1993-94 that resulted in Adams only scoring 13-goals, he bounced back in the postseason. He most notably scored the Game 5 overtime winner against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Western Conference Final clinching Vancouver’s berth in their 2nd Stanley Cup Final. Adams then followed that up by scoring the game winning goal in Game 1 against the New York Rangers. He finished the postseason with 6-goals and 14-points in 23-games.
Adams played 31-games in the shortened 1995 season with Vancouver and registered 15-points. Midway through the season, Adams was traded to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Russ Courtnall. Adams played 4-seasons with the Stars, but didn’t surpass 50-points in any season. Adams was a UFA going into the 1998 season and chose to return to Arizona and sign with the Phoenix Coyotes. He played two seasons in the desert and then moved onto Florida for the 2000-01 season which ended up being his last in the NHL. Adams played one season overseas in Frankfurt, Germany before officially retiring from pro hockey.
All-in-all, as an undrafted free agent, Adams had a 17-year NHL Career. He played in 1056-games and scored 355-goals and 743-points. He is 21st in all-time scoring for the Vancouver Canucks.
Fun Fact: Elias Pettersson and Elias Pettersson were not the first duplicates on a Vancouver Canucks team. In 1988-89, Vancouver acquired a 2nd Greg Adams from Edmonton resulting in the players differentiating themselves by having the younger Greg Adams referred to as *Gus.* According to Adams, Gus was his fathers name and also a childhood nickname for himself.
Sorry for the potato quality photo but couldn’t find a high-res version
He’ll always be a favourite. I was there the night he scored in double OT to knock out the Leafs and go the final in 1994.