Adam Oates

Adam Oates (born August 27, 1962) is a retired professional ice hockey and lacrosse player and is currently a professional hockey coach.

Playing career

Oates' break came when Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute offered him a scholarship. He played for the college from 1982 to 1985, where he majored management and was a contributor to RPI's 1985 NCAA Division I championship. Oates eventually graduated with a Management degree from RPI in 1991. As of the end of the 2004–05 season, Oates still held school records for most assists in a season (60, 1984–85), most points in a season (91, 1984–85), and most career points (150). He is third on the school's all-time list for most assists per game (1.53) and tied for third all-time in career points (216).^[1]

After Rensselaer's NCAA championship season, Oates signed as an undrafted free agent with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League, with the richest rookie contract up to this time at $1 million over four years. Although the team's second centreman behind Steve Yzerman, Oates solidified his reputation as an elite NHL playmaker with the Red Wings, and by his last season with the club 1988–89 he was scoring at an almost assist-per-game pace. However, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues after the season along with Paul MacLean for Bernie Federko and Tony McKegney.

Oates prospered in St. Louis, where he teamed up with Brett Hull and became part of the "Hull 'n' Oates" tandem, a reference to the musical duo of Hall & Oates. In no small part because of the excellent playmaking of Oates, Hull had three consecutive seasons with at least 70 goals, including the 1990–91 season when Hull scored 86 (a record for right wingers) and won the Hart Trophy. Oates also had a spectacular season, as he had 90 assists and 115 points in only 61 games, earning him an NHL Second Team All-Star. However, as Oates was paid far lower than his market worth, he held out for much of the next season until he was traded to the Boston Bruins in return for Craig Janney and Stéphane Quintal.

Oates had perhaps his best seasons yet in 1992–93, as he scored a career-high 45 goals, 97 assists and 142 points to finish third overall in regular season scoring behind Mario Lemieux and Pat LaFontaine. Oates' 97 assists were more formidable than his totals in his St. Louis years, considering that he did not have a bona-fide sniper playing alongside him the whole season, as Bruins sniper Cam Neely was injured for all but 13 games during the season. The next season, Oates again finished third with 32 goals, 80 assists, and 112 points, behind Wayne Gretzky and Sergei Fedorov.

Oates played with Boston until the 1996–97 NHL season, when he was traded on March 1, 1997 to the Washington Capitals with Bill Ranford and Rick Tocchet for Jim Carey, Anson Carter, Jason Allison and Washington's 3rd round choice (Lee Goren) in the 1997 Entry Draft, in a blockbuster move near the trading deadline. As a Capital, he changed his jersey number to 77 (which he would wear for the remainder of his career), as a homage to his former Boston Bruins teammate and friend, Ray Bourque. Oates helped lead the Capitals to the Stanley Cup Finals the next season, but failed to win as the Capitals lost to the Red Wings, Oates' first NHL team. Oates had a few more productive seasons with the Caps, leading the league in assists in 2000–01 and 2001–02, both feats were done in the two seasons leading up to his fortieth birthday which also made him the oldest player to do so. On January 14, 2002, Oates became only the eighth player in NHL history to earn at least 1,000 career assists, a tribute to his playmaking skills.

In 2002–03, Oates made his second trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, this time with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, but again his team was beaten out, this time in seven games by the New Jersey Devils. His career looked to be over after the season, but on November 17, 2003, the Edmonton Oilers desperately needed a center, and signed Oates to a contract. However, the season was a disappointment as he scored only 2 goals and 18 points in 60 games, although the Oilers stayed in the playoff hunt until the end of the season. Oates announced his retirement on April 3, 2004 after his team was narrowly eliminated from the postseason

Legacy

Oates is considered one of the more creative and effective playmakers in the modern NHL era, as he had more assists than any other player during the 1990s except for Gretzky. Brett Hull and Oates united to form a high-scoring tandem for three years, with Oates supplying the playmaking for Hull, who was a natural sniper. During those three years, Hull's goal totals were 72–86–70. Outside of the three seasons, when Hull was not centered by Oates, he never surmounted the 60 goal mark.

Despite his skillful playmaking, strong face-off win percentage, and impressive scoring statistics, Oates never won the Stanley Cup in his career. He was also well known as a clean player, being a six time finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy but losing to Wayne Gretzky, Pierre Turgeon, Ron Francis, and Joe Sakic. He finished third in regular season scoring three times (1990–1991, 1992–1993, and 1993–1994), but only made the postseason All-Star Second Team in 1991. The other two seasons near the top, Oates narrowly missed out because players that finished ahead of him in the scoring place also played centre. Oates's lack of such honours meant that he was often overlooked compared to his peers. Considering the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons combined, Oates scored the most points, with Doug Gilmour coming in second.

Oates was considered by many hockey experts to be a favorite for the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007, 2008, and 2009, but was not selected. Oates has the most career points of all retired players that are eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame but are not currently enshrined.

Awards

• ECAC Second All-Star Team (1984)
• NCAA East First All-American Team (1984, 1985)
• ECAC First All-Star Team (1985)
• NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team (1985)
• NHL Second All-Star Team (1991)
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997)

Records

• Oldest player to lead the NHL in assists in a single season (64 in 2001–02, at the age of 39)

Coaching career

On October 2, 2009, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced the naming of Oates an assistant coach. He had worked with the Tampa Bay coaching staff during 2009 training camp, focusing on offensive strategies with the forwards. Under his direction, the team's power play ranked fourth in the NHL in the preseason.^[2]

Box lacrosse

Oates played five years of Junior "A" lacrosse for the Etobicoke Eclipse, in which he scored 735 points (regular season & playoffs) in just 130 games. In total of his junior career, he averaged 5.5 points per game. He would win three straight league M.V.P awards from 1981 to 1983. He also played one year of Major Series Lacrosse (Senior "A") for the Brampton Excelsiors, in which he scored 94 points in his rookie season. He would retire from professional lacrosse after the 1984 season to pursue his professional hockey career. He holds the Ontario junior lacrosse record for assists (19), and points (29) in a game.^[3]

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (July 2009)

• Adam Oates is a good friend of PGA Tour golfer Mike Weir. One time, Weir laced up skates to practice with the Washington Capitals while Oates captained the team. In 2003, Weir won the Masters Major, the same year that Oates would reach the Stanley Cup final with Anaheim.

• He is the player who has accumulated the most career playoffs points without winning the Stanley Cup.

Career statistics

See also

• Captain (ice hockey)
• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played
• List of NHL statistical leaders

References

External links

• Adam Oates's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Adam Oates's NHL player profile
• RPI Magazine profile
• NHL Commercial featuring Adam Oates
• Tampa Bay Lightning coaching staff