Weston Woollard Adams (August 9, 1904 – March 19, 1973) was an American hockey executive with the
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
. He is a member of the
Hockey Hall of Fame.
Early life
Adams was born in
Springfield, Massachusetts. He attended
Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated from
Harvard where he played
Goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...
on the varsity team.
Boston Bruins
Early experience
In 1924, Adam's father,
Charles Adams, founded the Boston Bruins. Although he was still a student at the time, Adams was very involved with the team.
In 1932 he became
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
of the
Canadian American Hockey League farm team, the
Boston Tigers
Boston Metros were an American soccer club based in Boston, Massachusetts that were a member of the American Soccer League. In their second season, the Metros joined the Eastern Professional Soccer Conference. After the EPSC folded at the end o ...
. His' ability to recognize talent was invaluable to the growth of the Bruins' player development system.
First tenure as president
In 1936, Adams became majority owner and team president of the Bruins when his father transferred his stock to him,
Art Ross, and
Ralph Burkard
Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf").
The most common forms ...
. While Adams was president of the Bruins, the team finished first in the NHL American Division from
1937–38 season to the
1940–41 regular season
In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...
. They won the Stanley Cup in 1939, and 1941. During his tenure as president Adams remained involved in the player development process, monitoring the progress of players with the Tigers and the
Providence Reds
The Providence Reds were a hockey team that played in the Canadian-American Hockey League (CAHL) between 1926 and 1936 and the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1936 to 1977, the last season of which they played as the Rhode Island Reds. The t ...
of the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...
.
During World War II, Adams served the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
from January 1942 to May 1946, eventually working his way up to the rank of
commander. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific, mostly on escort and convoy duty.
Sale of team
In 1951 the
Boston Garden-Arena Corporation purchased controlling interest in the team. Adams remained a major stockholder in the Garden-Arena Corporation and he became its chairman in 1951. The team's struggled during the first few seasons under the Garden-Arena Corporation, until Adams took on a more proactive role in player procurement.
Second tenure as president
Adams was again named president of the Bruins after
Walter A. Brown
Walter Augustine Brown (February 10, 1905 – September 7, 1964) was the founder and original owner of the Boston Celtics, as well as an important figure in the development of ice hockey in the United States.
Life
He was born in Hopkinton, Ma ...
's death in 1964. Upon regaining control of the team, Adams worked to rebuild Boston's farm system. He fostered strong working relationships with powerful junior clubs, including the
Niagara Falls Flyers
The Niagara Falls Flyers were two junior ice hockey franchises that played in the top tier in the Ontario Hockey Association. The first, a Junior "A" team existed from 1960 until 1972, and the second in Tier I Junior "A" from 1976 until 1982.
...
and the
Estevan Bruins, which could develop and supply players. Adams logged many hours traveling across Canada to scout players. Over the next few years, he brought in such players as
Bobby Orr
Robert Gordon Orr (born March 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest of all time. Orr used his ice skating speed, scoring, and play-making abilities to revolutionize the pos ...
,
Wayne Cashman
Wayne Cashman (born June 24, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played seventeen seasons for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) and helped them win the Stanley Cup twice, and was the last ac ...
,
Dallas Smith
Dallas Hendry Smith (born December 4, 1977) is a Canadian singer and songwriter, who performs both as a solo country music artist and as lead singer for the hard rock band Default. He is currently signed to Big Loud Records. Smith is the curr ...
,
Don Awrey,
Don Marcotte
Donald Michel Marcotte (born April 15, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who served his entire National Hockey League career with the Boston Bruins and was noted as a premier defensive forward, while being versatile enough ...
,
Derek Sanderson
Derek Michael Sanderson (born June 16, 1946), nicknamed "Turk", is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and two-time Stanley Cup champion who helped transform the culture of the professional athlete in the 1970s era. The two-time Sta ...
and
Eddie Westfall. He also developed the concept of the
sixth attacker and secured the relationship with the
AHL's
Boston Braves due to the AHL's loss of many players to the expanding NHL.
On March 31, 1969, he was succeeded as team president by his son,
Weston Adams, Jr. He remained on as chairman of the board until 1973. Boston would win 2 more Stanley Cups in 1970, and 1972.
Weston was elected to the
Hockey Hall of Fame as an Honoured Builder in 1972.
Other teams
In addition to the Bruins, Adams owned the
Boston Braves,
Oshawa Generals,
Boston Rovers
Boston Shamrock Rovers (also known as Boston Rovers) were an American soccer team that competed in the United Soccer Association (USA) league in 1967. The team was based in Lynn, Massachusetts and played their home games at the Manning Bowl. T ...
, a horse racing stable, and was a member of the
Suffolk Downs board of directors. He also served as travelling secretary of the
Boston Braves baseball club.
Boston Stock Exchange
Adams was a member of the
Boston Stock Exchange
The Boston Stock Exchange (now NASDAQ BX, formerly ''BSE'') is a regional stock exchange located in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1834, making it the third-oldest stock exchange in the United States. On October 2, 2007, NASDAQ agreed ...
from 1929 to 1969. From 1938 to 1942 and from 1962 to 1969 he was a member of the BSE's board of directors. From 1953 to 1962 he served as its vice president. He then served as president of the exchange from 1962 to 1963.
Personal life and death
On January 8, 1933, Adams married Mildred Culver Boyd of
Lansdowne, Pennsylvania
Lansdowne is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, located southwest of the Center City Philadelphia. It was named for the Marquess of Lansdowne. As of the 2010 census the borough had a population of 10,620.
Lansdowne grew quickly in the ...
. The couple had two children. They divorced in 1936. On September 26, 1936, he married Nancy E. (Atkins) Gordon, ex-wife of playwright
Leon Gordon
Judah Leib (Ben Asher) Gordon, also known as Leon Gordon, (December 7, 1830, Vilnius, Lithuania – September 16, 1892, St. Petersburg, Russia) (Hebrew: יהודה לייב גורדון) was among the most important Hebrew poets of the Jewish E ...
.
Adams had two children with her.
Adams died on March 19, 1973, at his home in
Brookline, Massachusetts.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Weston
1904 births
1973 deaths
American stockbrokers
Boston Bruins executives
Boston Bruins owners
Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey players
Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Lester Patrick Trophy recipients
Sportspeople from Brookline, Massachusetts
Stanley Cup champions
American racehorse owners and breeders
Suffolk Downs executives
20th-century American businesspeople
Sportspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts