Adams ‘unsung hero’
Providence, MC mourn loss of hockey standout
‘Roo was a huge part of creating a culture and brotherhood for that national championship team. He really was the true unsung hero for that team.’
— FORMER PROVIDENCE STAR KEVIN ROONEY On Friars teammate Mark Adams
APPRECIATION
Mark Adams’ dream was to play hockey for Providence College.
For many hockey players growing up in Massachusetts, being able to skate with a storied Hockey East program would be the culmination of a lifetime goal. Imagine, then, the pride that Adams and his family felt when the Boxford native was able to hoist the NCAA championship trophy on the Garden ice in 2015 after the Friars’ victory against Boston University.
“That was great for the family, especially being in Boston, too,” Jack Adams said yesterday about his older brother, better known by his nickname “Roo” after the Winnie the Pooh character. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.”
A Celebration of Life for Adams, who died suddenly earlier this week at age 27, will be held Monday at Turner Hill Golf Club in Ipswich.
Adams played 98 games for the Friars while battling injuries, receiving a medical redshirt to skate a fifth season in 2014-15. As a senior, he played 32 games as a smooth-skating, shut-down defenseman, adding a goal and two assists.
But Adams’ impact on the championship Friars was felt far beyond the ice.
“Roo was one of those teammates that would do anything for another guy on our team,” recalled Kevin Rooney, who was a junior on the national title team. “Almost every single day he would ask the guys to come over to his place for dinner. It got to the point where sometimes we had to say no because we felt bad not buying any of the food.”
Rooney, a former Canton High star who now plays for the New Jersey Devils, said Adams hosted the entire team for a Christmas party at his loft in down- town Providence.
“Roo was a huge part of creating a culture and brotherhood for that national championship team,” Rooney said. “He really was the true unsung hero for that team.”
Adams began playing hockey at age 3 on various teams under the tutelage of his father, Mark.
“My dad coached him all the way, taught him everything,” Jack Adams said. Adams also spent 14 summers skating with Paul Vincent, who “had a humongous impact on his career, on and off the ice,” according to his brother.
After playing for the Middlesex Islanders through eighth grade, Adams took a chance on the rising Malden Catholic program and then-coach Chris Serino. As a sophomore Adams scored a memorable shootout goal against Hingham in 2008 — flying across center ice in a Superman pose in celebration — while leading the Lancers to the Super Eight championship game.
Many credit him for helping pave the way for the program’s Super Eight dynasty that followed soon after. Adams left MC after his junior season in 2009, and later that year became the first Malden Catholic player since Keith Tkachuk (1990) to be drafted by an NHL team when the Buffalo Sabres chose him in the fifth round.
Adams spent one season in the United States Hockey League with the Chicago Steel, where he was captain. According to his brother, Adams had an offer to sign with the Sabres after that, but chose Providence instead.
“Our program is heartbroken with the passing of Mark,” Providence coach Nate Leaman said. “He was a great teammate and a special part of our entire community. Our thoughts are prayers are with his entire family.”
Jack Adams said his brother stopped playing following his career at Providence because of his various injuries.
“It was too hard for him, he had to walk away,” Jack Adams said. Instead, he went to work on Wall Street for Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, and more recently had become a vice president for his father’s pharmaceutical company. Jack Adams said his brother was learning Mandarin while working on an overseas deal.
“People don’t realize how brilliant he was,” Jack Adams said.
But Jack Adams — who followed his brother as a star at MC, was drafted in 2017 by the Red Wings and now plays for Union — said he will continue to carry his brother’s legacy on the ice.
“Everything I did, everything I do, is for him,” Adams said.