Craig Adams is a glue guy. He's not explosive, but is very steady. He's a smart player, and being as he spent four years at Harvard University, probably a pretty sharp person too. And now Adams is a two time Stanley Cup champion (also winning with Carolina in 2006).
When Ray Shero acquired Adams off of waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks the move went under the radar. After all, with recent transactions to get Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin and the demotion of Miroslav Satan to the minors, it's easy to see how Adams slips through the cracks.
Here's some of the measurables Adams contributed:
- 2:27 short-handed time played / game (2nd amongst forwards behind Jordan Staal)
- Took 92 faceoffs (winning 46.7% of them) despite not really being a center...Adams usually plays wing, as his faceoff totals in past seasons were low.
- 3 goals -- two of which were scored into open nets. Which goes to show how much the coach trusted his defensive acumen.
- Adams was the player that was sprawled to the ice, corralling the puck as time ran out on the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7.
A player like Adams brings more than just the pure stats and numbers measure. I think Pens fans would be in unanimous agreement that the Penguins ought to look to bring him back for a reasonable salary. So I'll make it a little tricky: