Craig Adams was rooting for the Blackhawks in the Western Conference finals against the Detroit Red Wings.
For the Pittsburgh Penguins winger, the reason was more personal than professional, though avoiding the defending champion Wings to take on an NHL upstart would likely have made things a bit easier in the Stanley Cup finals.
Instead, Adams was hoping for a chance to play against old friends and teammates after spending much of the season with the Hawks before being placed on waivers March 3.
“I was cheering for those guys for sure,” said Adams, who had two goals and four assists in 36 games with the Hawks. “I wanted to see them do well. It would have been tough to play them as well. You can have some weird emotions. I was definitely cheering for those guys and I told them so.
“Even though things didn’t go that well for me there this year, I love the city of Chicago and I love the guys on that team and playing at the United Center with those fans.”
In 28 regular-season games with Pittsburgh, Adams had three goals and three assists. During the Penguins’ run to the finals, which continue with Game 3 Tuesday night at Mellon Arena with the Wings holding a 2-0 series lead, Adams has a goal and assist in nine games. The 32-year-old credits Penguins coach Dan Bylsma for giving him a chance to contribute.
“Dan’s given me a pretty good opportunity to play and put me in some situations where he thinks I can be successful and help the team, and so far it’s worked out pretty well,” said Adams, who captured the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006. “It was a tough move [from Chicago] at the time, but in retrospect it’s worked out pretty well for me.”
Adams isn’t the only former Hawk enjoying another shot at a Stanley Cup title. Detroit wing Dan Cleary, the Hawks No. 1 draft choice in 1997, has had been among the Wings best players and is their fourth-leading scorer in the postseason (8 goals, 6 assists). Defenseman Chris Chelios has been a healthy scratch in the first two games against the Penguins, but that hasn’t stopped him from relishing the opportunity to get a fourth chance to hoist the Cup.
“It’s exciting — it’s the best time of the year,” said Chelios, who played for the Hawks from 1990-99 and won Cups with the Montreal Canadiens (1986) and Wings (2002, 2008). “This is what you play for. I’m just as nervous as I was back in 1984 when I stepped on the ice against Boston for the first playoff round of my career [with Montreal].”
As the NHL’s oldest player at 47, Chelios is fine with his limited role. The Chicago native has played in six games during the Wings’ playoff run.
“I just keep it simple,” Chelios said. “You don’t want to hurt the team — that’s the key. I’ve been able to contribute in some sort of way in six games because of injuries. Hopefully that won’t be the case … and we can remain healthy, but I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for the position I’m in right now.”
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ckuc@tribune.com
