‘It was a special team’
Q&A with Greg Adams: Former Canuck talks about the epic 1994 Cup run and his love for the city
The Heritage Classic celebrates a rivalry between Vancouver and Ottawa hockey teams that goes back a century. But it also marks a reunion for the 1994 Canucks — underdogs who went all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final against the New York Rangers. Greg Adams will be among the group honoured at B. C. Place ...
Q Jordan Bowman: I spoke with Tim Hunter earlier, and he said going through that experience in 1994 is a bond that lasts forever.
A Greg Adams: Any team I’ve played on, if anyone ever asked me what was my best experience, it was that ’94 run. In order for something like that to happen, you have to have a special group of guys that really got along together and really gelled, and that’s what we did. It was a special team and probably the most close-knit group of guys I ever played with.
Growing up in Nelson, you would have been about seven when the Canucks entered the NHL. Were you a fan right away or was Nelson pretty far removed from the Canucks’movement?
There was a little bit, obviously not quite the same as for the people in Vancouver. But having a team in British Columbia was pretty exciting for us, too, and the first NHL game I ever saw was in Vancouver. You know, Vancouver was always kind of a special team for me, and if I were to call any NHL team a “home team,” it would be Vancouver for sure.
Saying that, what was it like when you got an opportunity to play for the“home team”?
It was the beginning of my career and it was the first time I’d been traded. The news of being traded (from New Jersey in September 1987) was disappointing, but when I found out I was being traded to Vancouver, and when I landed in Vancouver later that night, the disappointment of being traded was taken over by the excitement of being able to play for the Canucks.
Obviously, you had a very famous first game for the Canucks: you scored four goals. You couldn’t hope for a better result, but did you kind of feel you had set a dangerous precedent?
(Laughs) Yeah, I started myself on a pace there was no way I could maintain. But it was a great way to start my experience in Vancouver and my whole first season was a good season, but to have that kind of start was really exciting.
The Canucks acquired another Greg Adams during your time here, making you Greg “Gus” Adams. Where did Gus come from?
(Laughs) Gus was my father’s name, and it was always my nickname wherever I went. Someone always knew that and they always ended up calling me Gus, so I was being called Gus in the lockerroom and then when they started being public with it, Jim Robson started calling me that and it really caught on. I almost lost my real name — Greg — while playing in Vancouver.
I don’t mean to date you here, but I was in third grade at the time of the 1994 team, and one of our class projects was to make signs to hang in our front windows at home, showing support for the Canucks.
(Laughs) Exactly. Things like that, we noticed it. As players, we noticed all that kind of stuff. It really made you feel like you had the whole city behind you, which was an amazing feeling.
About that run, a lot of talk is always about the saves Kirk McLean made, the rise of Pavel Bure, Trevor Linden’s leadership. It was a team effort, but is there anyone on the team you think doesn’t get enough credit?
That was the team by far that I’d been on where everyone came together and gave literally 110 per cent. There was not one guy on that team that didn’t perform as well as they could and do everything they could. I have such a proud feeling of that team, every single one of those guys. I remember sitting on the bench, and watching some of your teammates out there sacrificing themselves, there was no way you weren’t going to do it. It was just a continuous thing, and everyone was playing for the same reason.
In Canucks history, two Game 5 overtime goals have sent the Canucks to the Stanley Cup final: yours against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Kevin Bieksa’s infamous “Stanchion Goal” against the San Jose Sharks in 2011. Be honest, yours was better, right?
(Laughs) Mine was only better because Jim Robson made it sound better.
As we all know the Canucks will be wearing the Millionaires throwback jerseys for the Heritage Classic. Do you ever think the Canucks will wear the ’94 jersey again?
(Laughs) Eventually it will show up, somewhere down the line. We might be a bit early for it yet, but they all seem to be coming back sooner or later, so it will be awesome when it does happen.
There is a movement on Twitter called #FreeTheSkate, of a lot of like-minded fans that want to see that jersey on the ice for a game again. I hope to see it, too.
Oh, it will bring back some memories. That will be cool to see.