Jack Adams Jack Adams John James "Jack" Adams (June 14, 1894 – May 1, 1968) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach and general manager in the National Hockey League and Pacific Coast Hockey Association. He was a Hall of Fame player during a 10-year professional career with Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa. He is best known for his 36-year association with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League as head coach and as a general manager. He held the record of winningest coach in Red Wings history before being surpassed by Mike Babcock in 2014. He later became the
Jack Adams wins, 390 losses and 161 ties, including a 52–52–1 coaching record in the playoffs. Most of those wins came without a contract; when Norris bought the team he'd torn up Adams' contract and given him a year on his job on probation and a handshake. As it turned out, one year became 15 years. Adams is the second-most winningest coach in Red Wings history, behind Mike Babcock. By 1947, Adams had built a farm team system which trained Alex Delvecchio, Terry Sawchuk, Ted Lindsay, Red Kelly, Sid Abel, and most notably Gordie Howe. It was this core group of players