Top 50 Canucks players of all time: #22 – Greg Adams

Join us this summer as we count down the top 50 Vancouver Canucks players of all time! #22: Greg Adams

Long before there was a pair of Elias Petterssons plying their trade for the Vancouver Canucks, there was a short stint where two guys named Greg Adams played for the hockey club at the same time. It was a run of just 12 regular season games and seven more in the playoffs at the end of the 1988-89 National Hockey League season. One of the Greg Adams is a mere footnote in club history, only remembered because of his name. The other left a much more significant impression and comes in at number 22 on our list of best players in franchise history.

Greg ‘Gus’ Adams, as he was known to differentiate him from his namesake, was a highly-skilled right winger who hit the 30-goal mark three times in his eight seasons in Vancouver. That included a career-best 36-goal campaign in 1987-88 when he represented the Canucks at the All-Star game. Adams may be best remembered for scoring the double-overtime goal that punched the Canucks ticket to the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. But there were many other highlights during his time with the club, including scoring the overtime winner in the opener of that ’94 Final at Madison Square Garden. He also made an incredible first impression in Vancouver, netting four goals in his Canucks debut in October 1987 after being acquired in a trade from New Jersey. Adams is one of 11 players to share the franchise record for goals in a single game.

When all was said and done, the Nelson, BC native recorded 179 goals and 369 points in 489 regular season games and added 15 goals and 34 points in the playoffs. Adams sits 16th in all-time goals and is 10th on the franchise list with 65 power play markers. At the end of his time in Vancouver, Adams was dealt to Dallas in a trade that brought Russ Courtnall to the Canucks to briefly play with his brother. Adams then finished his NHL career with stops in Arizona and Florida before retiring in 2001.

Our previously ranked top 50 Canucks of all time:

#50 – Curt Fraser
#49 – Dave Babych
#48 – Martin Gelinas
#47 – Chris Oddleifson
#46 – Jannik Hansen
#45 – Ivan Boldirev
#44 – Gary Smith
#43 – Jacob Markstrom
#42 – Orland Kurtenbach
#41 – Harold Snepsts
#40 – Darcy Rota
#39 – Thatcher Demko
#38 – Geoff Courtnall
#37 – Dennis Ververgaert
#36 – Petri Skriko
#35 – Dan Hamhuis
#34 – Doug Lidster
#33 – Patrik Sundstrom
#32 – Brendan Morrison
#31 – Richard Brodeur
#30 – Sami Salo
#29 – André Boudrais
#28 – Kevin Bieksa
#27 – Don Lever
#26 – Bo Horvat
#25 – Brock Boeser
#24 – Dennis Kearns
#23 – Ed Jovanovski