Greg Adams (ice hockey, born 1960)

Not to be confused with Greg Adams (ice hockey, born 1963).
Greg Adams
Born May 31, 1960
Duncan, BC, CAN
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for Philadelphia Flyers
Hartford Whalers
Washington Capitals
Edmonton Oilers
Vancouver Canucks
Quebec Nordiques
Detroit Red Wings
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1980–1990

Gregory Charles Adams (born May 31, 1960) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 to 1990.

Playing career

Adams was passed over in the NHL Amateur Draft and signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1979. In his final year in the WHL with the Victoria Cougars he scored 62 goals playing on a line with Barry Pederson. He turned pro in 1980 and spent the 1980–81 season with Flyers' farm team in Maine, and impressed in a 6-game stint in Philadelphia, scoring 3 goals. The following season he appeared in 33 games, scoring 19 points.

Adams was traded to the Hartford Whalers in the Mark Howe trade in the summer of 1982. In 1982–83, he spent his first full season in the NHL, scoring 10 goals and 23 points in 79 games. He established himself as a gritty, physical presence and registered 216 penalty minutes (PIM), the highest total of his career.

Adams was dealt again in the summer of 1983, this time to the Washington Capitals. While the Whalers had just 19 wins in 1982–83, the Capitals were one of the deepest squads in the league, and he found it more difficult to get ice time. In his first two years in Washington, he scored just 8 goals in 108 games, and was demoted briefly to the AHL. However, he established himself as a key member of the team in 1985–86, and put up surprising numbers with 18 goals and 56 points, along with 152 PIM. He continued to perform well over the next two seasons, posting totals of 14 and 15 goals while providing his usual physical presence.

For the 1988–89 season, he was moved to the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers. However, he struggled to find a niche with the Oilers, scoring just 4 goals in 49 games, and was dealt again at the trade deadline, this time to the Vancouver Canucks. This created one of the more unusual situations in NHL history, as the Canucks' lineup already featured star winger Greg 'Gus' Adams. As a result, the elder Adams would thereafter be known as 'Greg C. Adams'.

Adams' stint in Vancouver was brief, scoring 4 goals in 12 games for the team. He was moved to the Quebec Nordiques for the 1989–90 season, although he didn't establish himself there and spent time in the AHL. He finished the season with the Detroit Red Wings before retiring.

Adams finished his career with 84 goals and 227 career points in 545 NHL games, and recorded 1173 PIM.

Post-playing career

After Adams retired from the National Hockey League, he moved back to the town of Duncan, close to where he grew up. Greg has built a reputation as a fairly good businessman opening up four separate "Tim Hortons" restaurants and many construction companies.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1977–78 Nanaimo Clippers BCJHL 62 53 61 114 150 — — — — —
1978–79 Victoria Cougars WHL 71 23 31 54 151 14 5 0 5 59
1979–80 Victoria Cougars WHL 71 62 48 110 212 16 9 11 20 71
1980–81 Maine Mariners AHL 71 19 20 39 158 20 2 3 5 89
1980–81 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 6 3 0 3 8 — — — — —
1981–82 Maine Mariners AHL 45 16 21 37 241 4 0 3 3 28
1981–82 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 33 4 15 19 105 — — — — —
1982–83 Hartford Whalers NHL 79 10 13 23 216 — — — — —
1983–84 Washington Capitals NHL 57 2 6 8 133 1 0 0 0 0
1984–85 Binghamton Whalers AHL 28 9 16 25 58 — — — — —
1984–85 Washington Capitals NHL 51 6 12 18 72 5 0 0 0 9
1985–86 Washington Capitals NHL 78 18 38 56 152 9 1 3 4 27
1986–87 Washington Capitals NHL 67 14 30 44 184 7 1 3 4 38
1987–88 Washington Capitals NHL 78 15 12 27 153 14 0 5 5 58
1988–89 Edmonton Oilers NHL 49 4 5 9 82 — — — — —
1988–89 Vancouver Canucks NHL 12 4 2 6 35 7 0 0 0 21
1989–90 Halifax Citadels AHL 10 6 13 19 18 — — — — —
1989–90 Quebec Nordiques NHL 7 1 3 4 17 — — — — —
1989–90 Detroit Red Wings NHL 28 3 7 10 16 — — — — —
NHL totals 545 84 143 227 1173 43 2 11 13 153

External links