Sports
Jack Adams
1894–1968 · ice hockey coach and general manager
Hall of Fame builder who spent 36 years running the Red Wings as coach and general manager, winning seven Stanley Cups and turning Detroit into an NHL powerhouse; the NHL's annual coach-of-the-year award bears his name.
- Born
Fort William, Ontario, Canada- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 73- Birth name
- John James Adams
- Also known as
- Jolly Jack
- Detroit years
- 1927–1963
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Adams had already won two Stanley Cups as a player when NHL president Frank Calder steered him toward Detroit's struggling second-year franchise, then called the Cougars, in 1927. What was meant to be a short stay became a 36-year association: he coached the team through its renaming, first to the Falcons and then, after grain merchant James Norris bought the club in 1932, to the Red Wings, and he never signed another formal contract after that purchase. As coach and later general manager, Adams built the Red Wings into the era's dominant team, capturing an NHL-record seven straight first-place regular-season finishes from 1948 to 1955 and winning the Stanley Cup seven times, making him the only person ever to win the Cup as a player, coach and general manager. His tenure was not without controversy, including a 1955 episode in which he was accused of blocking playing time for the team's first Black-signed player, John Utendale. Adams remained Detroit's winningest coach for decades, and today the NHL's Jack Adams Award for coach of the year carries his name.
Highlights
- Coach and general manager of the Red Wings for 36 years, 1927–1963
- Won the Stanley Cup seven times with Detroit as coach or general manager
- Only person to win the Stanley Cup as a player, coach and general manager
- The NHL's Jack Adams Award for coach of the year is named for him
- Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1927–1963
Olympia Stadium
Demolished · 1927–1987
The Red Wings' arena for nearly his entire 36-year tenure and all seven of his Stanley Cup wins; demolished in 1987.