NEW YORK (AP) -Adam Graves’ greatness isn’t measured in numbers – although it could be.
It isn’t about his grit on the ice or his unfailing dedication to his team, and more importantly his teammates – although it could be.
If he were asked to describe what he does best, Graves’ answer would surely be about how he is a people person and how he strives to make the community better. Not because he was a great hockey player, but because the teachings of humility and caring instilled by his parents are the very things that power his days.
For that, as much as his vast contribution to the New York Rangers’ long-awaited Stanley Cup championship team in 1994, is why no one will ever wear No. 9 in a red, white, and blue sweater again.
Messier said. “He always gave of himself, to charities, to children. He always had time for everybody. He wasn’t doing it for recognition. He was doing it because that’s who he is.”
Call Graves the peoples’ champion.
Along with captain Messier, defenseman Brian Leetch, and goalie Mike Richter, Graves became beloved by Rangers fans, who endured 54 years of futility between titles from 1940 until 1994. That core ended the drought, curse, or whatever other word best describes that period of emptiness.
But Graves was different from his better-known teammates. He was appreciated for his talent, surprisingly breaking the team record for goals in a season when he struck 52 times in that championship year, yet it was his personal connection to the everyday people he met that made him stand out.
“Our fans?” Richter asked. “I think he’s met every one of them. I think they had a sleepover once.”
Graves is undying in his efforts to make people happy. He staged annual drives to get gifts to kids who otherwise would be without. When labor strife shut down hockey, Graves still was out there in the holiday season.
After all, just because he wasn’t playing didn’t mean someone’s Christmas should be ruined.
ce officer. He worked hard walking the beat, yet always was there for his family.
Henry was loving and tough. Adam Graves took it all in, and nothing makes him happier than to see his three children smile. That certainly isn’t a unique emotion for a parent, but Graves would seemingly do anything to brighten the day of a child or anyone else he extends his hand to for a firm shake.
If Graves was too sick to fulfill his childhood paper route duties, someone else in the family picked up the slack. When the hockey team Graves’ father coached didn’t have enough players to have a game, young Adam was thrown on the ice in full equipment to just stand there and make sure the team wouldn’t forfeit.
“They always told me, ‘As much as you give, you get,”’ Graves said.
All those thoughts ran through his head as he prepared for Tuesday night’s festivities in which his sweater and number joined those of Messier, Leetch and Richter in the rafters at Madison Square Garden before the Rangers played the Atlanta Thrashers.
“In many ways this is a tribute to my dad, who as many of you know is no longer with us, but is very much here,” Graves said. “I was lucky, I learned from my dad and my parents that everything was about family, that you sacrifice for each other, and that you wake up every day with a smile on your face.”
ll-page newspaper ads, all-day television coverage, and the brightest of Broadway spotlights trumpeted the celebration of Graves’ career and life Tuesday. He never sought the attention, didn’t ask for it, and wouldn’t even go as far as to say that he ever yearned for it.
For 10 years he gave everything he had to the Rangers. If that meant planting himself in front of the net for a full, nasty playoff series against the New Jersey Devils in which punishment was a certainty, he gladly did it. If it meant slamming an opponent who delivered too hard of a hit to Leetch, or even dropping the gloves to protect a teammate, that was part of his job he readily embraced.
“Everybody will be celebrating not only Adam as a player and the Stanley Cup and 50 goals and the cuts on his face and the fights and all that,” Leetch said, “but they’ll actually be celebrating the man and what he meant to the community. I find that to be a really unique situation.”
Messier, with the steel jaw and unwavering strength that came with being the ultimate team captain, warmly called Graves his “lieutenant.” When it was suggested that Messier didn’t need such a right-hand man during a career that produced six Stanley Cup titles, the questioner was quickly cut off. “Oh yes I did. Yes I did.”
looked to Mark as our leader, and Mike was our most important player being the goalie, but he was our foundation. He was our heart and soul.”
Graves, who now works in the team’s hockey and business operations department, spent 10 years with New York. He ranks third on the Rangers’ career list in goals (280), 10th in points (507) and ninth in games (772).
While there was never any doubt that Messier (No. 11), Richter (No. 35) and Leetch (No. 2) would be immortalized at the Garden, recognition for Graves was hardly a certainty.
It wasn’t until Leetch made the announcement a year ago during his jersey-retirement ceremony, that Graves’ honor became a reality. Leetch is someone who doesn’t like to draw attention to himself and was happy to deflect some to Graves, the person he said was the only one more reluctant to have it than himself.
Graves is the last person from the ’94 team who will have his number retired.
“I feel a great weight and very humbled,” Graves said. “I can feel the weight in my chest, and it’s only grown as this night has come closer.
“It will be an opportunity for me to say thank you to everyone for allowing me to be part of New York, this jersey and this tradition. I always looked at it as a privilege and I always will. This is beyond anything I could ever have imagined.”
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