Biography

Jack Adams (Jolly Jack) didn't take a three-pronged approach to the game of hockey. He lived it. Between 1911 and 1927, Adams played for the Toronto Arenas, Vancouver Millionaires, Toronto St. Patricks and Ottawa Senators. He won Stanley Cups with the Toronto Arenas and Ottawa Senators, (in 1918 and 1927 respectively), and won the Pacific Coast League scoring title in 1920, playing for Vancouver. He left this outstanding career to begin another that would span thirty-five years as coach and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. Under his management, the Wings won seven Stanley Cups and twelve National Hockey League Championships. Adams was well known for his fearlessness on the ice, loyalty as a coach, and ruthlessness as a manager. His most famous controversy was during the 1942 Stanley Cup finals, during which he was suspended for the rest of the season for hitting a referee in a melée ensuing from reaction to the penalties called against two of his players. Adams is an inductee in the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame as well as the Hockey Hall of Fame and is the only man to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup in three categories: player; coach; and general manager. However, his greatest personal satisfaction was the development of one of hockey's greatest all-time stars, Gordie Howe. Living hockey right to the end, he was President of the Central Pro League at the time of his death.