Shell
07-09-2006, 09:15 PM
CUP WINNER DRINKS IT ALL IN
Cover Story: At home in WNY, Kevyn Adams nurses a broken wrist and indelible memories
By BUCKY GLEASON
News Sports Reporter
7/9/2006 http://www.buffalonews.com/images/space.gif
http://www.buffalonews.com/images/space.gifhttp://www.buffalonews.com/graphics/2006/07/09/0709spta.jpg
In addition to hoisting the Stanley Cup, Kevyn Adams got to carry his 5-year-old daughter, Emerson, around after Game Seven.
http://www.buffalonews.com/graphics/2006/07/09/0709d2a.jpg
Photos by Robert Willett/News & Observer and James P. McCoy/Buffalo News
After securing his first Stanley Cup, Kevyn Adams will spend the summer trying to decompress at his offseason home along Chautauqua Lake.
Someday, when the memories begin to fade, Kevyn Adams can pull out pictures of himself raising the Stanley Cup knowing the image doesn't tell the full story. The Cup seemed weightless at the time under the adrenaline and pain relievers, the photos failing to reveal he carried the 35-pound trophy with a broken wrist.
Adams broke his wrist on the second shift of Game Seven while blocking a slap shot from Chris Pronger. Adams also had a rib injury he kept hidden during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
None of it mattered with the Cup on the line. The Carolina Hurricanes center wasn't going to leave Game Seven against the Edmonton Oilers unless somebody strapped him to a stretcher.
Anyway, what's a little broken bone? Nothing.
Adams had come too far and overcome too much for a couple of injuries to get in the way of the ultimate goal. Last week, he returned to his offseason home along Chautauqua Lake wearing a cast and a smile. The cast will be removed in a few weeks. The smile will be around for about as long as his name is inscribed on the Cup.
That would be roughly forever.
"You win that and nobody can ever take it away from you, no matter what happens," Adams said from his cell phone last week. "It's a pretty special feeling. It's such a tough, tough, tough thing towin because of what you have to go through. But it's sorewarding when you're able to do it."
Adams, who was raised in Clarence and played for the Niagara Scenics (now the Buffalo Junior Sabres), is believed to be the first player from Western New York to win the Stanley Cup. Kenmore native Barry Smith was an assistant coach for five Cup winners in Pittsburgh and Detroit under Scotty Bowman.
"I remember standing there and seeing the Stanley Cup get walked out with the guy in the white gloves, and all of a sudden it really hit me," Adams said. "It was really a neat time afterward when it was just the team in there. I'll drive down the street by myself and still get chills thinking about it."
His telephone has been ringing off the hook for weeks. Jack Yanno, his varsity baseball coach who has since retired from Clarence High, was among the first people to call Adams the night he won the Cup. University of Denver coach George Gwozdecky, whom Adams played under at the University of Miami (Ohio), also called, along with dozens of friends and family members who were pulling for him.
Imagine, some even came from Buffalo.
The Hurricanes quickly evolved into a team Sabres fans came to loathe during the conference finals. During Game Three in HSBC Arena, Adams was welcomed in the penalty box by a screaming fan who told the center he was embarrassed to be from the same hometown. Adams laughed about it after the game. Several players on the Sabres pulled him aside after the series and wished him well in the finals.
"It meant a lot because, when you go through a series like we had with Buffalo, the toughest thing to swallow was knowing you aren't moving on," he said. "For Marty Biron and Danny Briere and Chris Drury and all the way down the list of guys I know pretty well, for them to say something meant a lot. I had so much respect for that team and how gutsy they are. We knew what a battle that was to get through them."
Adams was a key player on the Hurricanes even though he didn't record a point in 25 playoff games. He did the little things that are important to winning but go largely unnoticed outside the dressing room. He was often matched up against the opposition's top lines, was on Carolina's top penalty-killing unit and won 58 percent of his faceoffs. He also served as the team's alternate captain.
It was a long way from Boston. The Bruins took him in the first round of the 1993 draft and basically gave up on him. Adams spent most of three seasons in the Toronto organization in the American Hockey League but was with the Maple Leafs when the Sabres beat them in the 1999 Eastern Conference finals.
Columbus claimed him in the 2000 expansion draft and later traded him to Florida. The Panthers traded him midway through the 2002-03 season to Carolina, where he finally found a home with the Hurricanes. Now that he's there, he has no plans to leave. He has one year left on his contract and hopes to re-sign with Carolina.
"All the stuff with Boston made me realize what a business this is early in my career," he said. "I always believed in myself and had people believe in me. But when you're playing in St. John's and Toronto wasn't calling guys up, you're just battling to get out of the minors. You realize it's not easy. It makes you appreciate it that much more. It makes me realize how fortunate I am and what a dream come true it is."
Adams will spend the summer trying to decompress and return to a life of normalcy. Last week, he was grocery shopping with his wife, Stacey, and two daughters, 5-year-old Emerson and 18-month-old Paulina, and getting his hot tub fixed. He's scheduled to be master of ceremonies for a golf tournament July 17 benefiting the Kevin Guest House.
Every player on the winning team is allowed to have the Stanley Cup for a day. Adams has no special plans when it arrives July 29, other than to spend a few hours celebrating with family at his parents' home in Clarence and mugging for a few pictures. Mostly, Adams was looking forward to doing nothing. Soon enough, he'll start concentrating on next season while cherishing the memories of the last one. "It's going to be a fun summer," he said. "I'm going to try to rest up, and then we'll try to do it again."
e-mail: bgleason@buffnews.com (http://www.buffalonews.com/email/email_form.asp?author_dept_id=71)
Cover Story: At home in WNY, Kevyn Adams nurses a broken wrist and indelible memories
By BUCKY GLEASON
News Sports Reporter
7/9/2006 http://www.buffalonews.com/images/space.gif
http://www.buffalonews.com/images/space.gifhttp://www.buffalonews.com/graphics/2006/07/09/0709spta.jpg
In addition to hoisting the Stanley Cup, Kevyn Adams got to carry his 5-year-old daughter, Emerson, around after Game Seven.
http://www.buffalonews.com/graphics/2006/07/09/0709d2a.jpg
Photos by Robert Willett/News & Observer and James P. McCoy/Buffalo News
After securing his first Stanley Cup, Kevyn Adams will spend the summer trying to decompress at his offseason home along Chautauqua Lake.
Someday, when the memories begin to fade, Kevyn Adams can pull out pictures of himself raising the Stanley Cup knowing the image doesn't tell the full story. The Cup seemed weightless at the time under the adrenaline and pain relievers, the photos failing to reveal he carried the 35-pound trophy with a broken wrist.
Adams broke his wrist on the second shift of Game Seven while blocking a slap shot from Chris Pronger. Adams also had a rib injury he kept hidden during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
None of it mattered with the Cup on the line. The Carolina Hurricanes center wasn't going to leave Game Seven against the Edmonton Oilers unless somebody strapped him to a stretcher.
Anyway, what's a little broken bone? Nothing.
Adams had come too far and overcome too much for a couple of injuries to get in the way of the ultimate goal. Last week, he returned to his offseason home along Chautauqua Lake wearing a cast and a smile. The cast will be removed in a few weeks. The smile will be around for about as long as his name is inscribed on the Cup.
That would be roughly forever.
"You win that and nobody can ever take it away from you, no matter what happens," Adams said from his cell phone last week. "It's a pretty special feeling. It's such a tough, tough, tough thing towin because of what you have to go through. But it's sorewarding when you're able to do it."
Adams, who was raised in Clarence and played for the Niagara Scenics (now the Buffalo Junior Sabres), is believed to be the first player from Western New York to win the Stanley Cup. Kenmore native Barry Smith was an assistant coach for five Cup winners in Pittsburgh and Detroit under Scotty Bowman.
"I remember standing there and seeing the Stanley Cup get walked out with the guy in the white gloves, and all of a sudden it really hit me," Adams said. "It was really a neat time afterward when it was just the team in there. I'll drive down the street by myself and still get chills thinking about it."
His telephone has been ringing off the hook for weeks. Jack Yanno, his varsity baseball coach who has since retired from Clarence High, was among the first people to call Adams the night he won the Cup. University of Denver coach George Gwozdecky, whom Adams played under at the University of Miami (Ohio), also called, along with dozens of friends and family members who were pulling for him.
Imagine, some even came from Buffalo.
The Hurricanes quickly evolved into a team Sabres fans came to loathe during the conference finals. During Game Three in HSBC Arena, Adams was welcomed in the penalty box by a screaming fan who told the center he was embarrassed to be from the same hometown. Adams laughed about it after the game. Several players on the Sabres pulled him aside after the series and wished him well in the finals.
"It meant a lot because, when you go through a series like we had with Buffalo, the toughest thing to swallow was knowing you aren't moving on," he said. "For Marty Biron and Danny Briere and Chris Drury and all the way down the list of guys I know pretty well, for them to say something meant a lot. I had so much respect for that team and how gutsy they are. We knew what a battle that was to get through them."
Adams was a key player on the Hurricanes even though he didn't record a point in 25 playoff games. He did the little things that are important to winning but go largely unnoticed outside the dressing room. He was often matched up against the opposition's top lines, was on Carolina's top penalty-killing unit and won 58 percent of his faceoffs. He also served as the team's alternate captain.
It was a long way from Boston. The Bruins took him in the first round of the 1993 draft and basically gave up on him. Adams spent most of three seasons in the Toronto organization in the American Hockey League but was with the Maple Leafs when the Sabres beat them in the 1999 Eastern Conference finals.
Columbus claimed him in the 2000 expansion draft and later traded him to Florida. The Panthers traded him midway through the 2002-03 season to Carolina, where he finally found a home with the Hurricanes. Now that he's there, he has no plans to leave. He has one year left on his contract and hopes to re-sign with Carolina.
"All the stuff with Boston made me realize what a business this is early in my career," he said. "I always believed in myself and had people believe in me. But when you're playing in St. John's and Toronto wasn't calling guys up, you're just battling to get out of the minors. You realize it's not easy. It makes you appreciate it that much more. It makes me realize how fortunate I am and what a dream come true it is."
Adams will spend the summer trying to decompress and return to a life of normalcy. Last week, he was grocery shopping with his wife, Stacey, and two daughters, 5-year-old Emerson and 18-month-old Paulina, and getting his hot tub fixed. He's scheduled to be master of ceremonies for a golf tournament July 17 benefiting the Kevin Guest House.
Every player on the winning team is allowed to have the Stanley Cup for a day. Adams has no special plans when it arrives July 29, other than to spend a few hours celebrating with family at his parents' home in Clarence and mugging for a few pictures. Mostly, Adams was looking forward to doing nothing. Soon enough, he'll start concentrating on next season while cherishing the memories of the last one. "It's going to be a fun summer," he said. "I'm going to try to rest up, and then we'll try to do it again."
e-mail: bgleason@buffnews.com (http://www.buffalonews.com/email/email_form.asp?author_dept_id=71)