With the induction of three great players into the Hockey Hall of Fame this week, it’s somewhat coincidental that a great player with ties to RPI would be here this past weekend. While Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, and Larry Murphy were inducted into Toronto’s hallowed hall, Adam Oates ’85 was here in Troy, for his induction into the RPI athletics hall of fame.
The impact that those three defensemen had on the game is unquestionable. All three seemed destined for success right from the beginning, too. Each was drafted in the top 10 overall, Bourque in 1979, the other two in 1980. Each also racked up the points over the years, and they were three vital cogs in revolutionizing the role of the offensive defenseman in ways unseen since Bobby Orr graced the ice of the Boston Garden. The three had 4636 points in 4326 combined games, helped lead their teams to many Stanley Cup Championships, and are clearly deserving of the honor.
Oates is equally deserving of that honor, despite taking a completely different road to get there. Undrafted out of high school, he opted to play college hockey, because he didn’t have many other options. After lighting it up at RPI for 216 points in 98 games over three years, he moved on to the pros, spending half a season with the Adirondack Red Wings (playing just half an hour north of RPI in the Glens Falls Civic Center) before his call up to Detroit.
Once called up to the NHL, he never left, After 19 seasons with seven different teams and 1337 games later, he’s calling it a career. His team-first attitude and nearly-supernatural vision on the ice moved him to sixth all-time on the career assists list with 1079, and his 1420 points rank 13th of all time—but first among NHLers who played collegiate hockey before the pros.
While his statistics alone merit a trip to Toronto, the intangibles also bolster his case. Oates made players around him better. Steve Yzerman scored 65 goals in 1988-89, a career high—and an accomplishment that would have been unlikely without Oates in town.
With three years on the famed Brett Hull & Oates line, the Golden Brett notched 228 goals. In those same three seasons, Oates had 228 assists. It is a coincidence? Perhaps. Or is it due to Oates’ deft passing touch? Considering Hull never topped 57 goals in another season, after averaging 76 with Oates, it’s probably not a coincidence.
Joe Juneau, Steve Leach, Bryan Smolinski, and Peter Bondra also all scored career highs in goals when playing with Oates. His amazing ability to know where his teammates were on the ice made any team instantly better. With the exception of Wayne Gretzky, Oates is the greatest passer in the history of the game. He’s also the greatest player to have never won a Stanley Cup.
Despite the very dazzling nature of Oates’ career, he remains very modest about his accomplishments, and true to his roots. While no doubt a lock for the hall of fame, Oates insists that “if it happens, great...I didn’t play the game for that reason, and it would just be another nice honor.”
But if Adam Oates doesn’t grace the stage in Toronto come autumn 2007, it will surely be a shame.
