Adam Oates was a professional ice hockey player National Hockey League (NHL) centre. He was born on August 27, 1962 in Weston, Ontario, Canada.

Growing up, he excelled in hockey as well as lacrosse, establishing many Ontario records which still stand. From 1982 to 1985 he attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he was a major contributor to RPI's 1985 NCAA Division I championship. After that season, he signed with the NHL's Detroit Red Wings (though he would return in future summers to complete his degree).

After a short stay in the minor leagues, he played 3 1/2 seasons in Detroit before being traded to the St. Louis Blues, where he built his reputation as an elite playmaker playing alongside Brett Hull. In the summer of 1992 he moved on to the Boston Bruins where he played with Cam Neely as well as fellow RPI alumnus Joe Juneau.

2001-2002 Season

This season, Oates was traded from the Washington Capitals, who he played for since 1996.

• November 2-6 - Missed three games with a leg injury.
• January 14, 2002 - He became the eighth player in league history to earn 1,000 assists. The game was versus Boston.

Traded to the Flyers near the end of the season, he was an exchange for Maxime Quellet and a first, second and third round NHL Entry Draft pick (March 19, 2002). He played 14 regular season games; he score three goals and made seven assists, ten points in all, an impressive amount considering he was only just settling in with the club.

• March 21, 2002 - His first game with this club, he assisted John LeClair's game winning goal versus the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
• March 27, 2002 - He recorded his 1,200 game versus the New York Rangers.
• April 6, 2002 - Moved into 17th place (1,354) in all-time NHL points, passing Guy Lafleur with an assist versus Pittsburgh.

2002-2003 Season

Traded to the Mighty Ducks, he led the NHL in assists, with 64; was 7th in points (78); 3rd with PP assists (26); 11 in PP points (29); 10th in face-off percentage (56.4%).

• February 6 - March 10, 2003 - In the eleven games played during this period of time, he posted the season's longest assist streak for any club.
• Adam Oates becomes 6th in all-time assists.

2003-2004 Season

November 17th: Oates signed with the Edmonton Oilers fora 1-year/$1.95 million US contract. The Oilers were in desperate need of a centre as Marty Reasoner was out with an injury for an extended amount of time and Mike Comrie seemingly nowhere near to being re-signed. On April 3, Oates announced his retirement.

 REGULAR SEASON STATS  
 Season     TEAM           GP   G   A   PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW  GT  S  
 2003 - 04  Edmonton Oilers60   2   16   18   0   8
 2002 - 03  Mighty Ducks   67   9   36   45  -1  16      
 2001 - 02  Flyers         14   3    7   10  -2   6      
 2001 - 02  Capitals       66  11   57   68  -1  22      
 2000 - 01  Capitals       81  13   69   82  -9  28  5  0  4  0   72 
 1999 - 00  Capitals       82  15   56   71  13  14  5  0  6  0   93 
 1998 - 99  Capitals       59  12   42   54  -1  36  3  2  3  0  121 
 1997 - 98  Capitals       82  18   58   76   6  36  3  2  3  0  121 
 1996 - 97  Capitals       80  22   60   82  -5  14  3  2  5  0  160 
 1995 - 96  Bruins         70  25   67   92  16  18  7  1  2  0  183 
 1994 - 95  Bruins         48  12   41   53 -11   8  4  1  2  0  109 
 1993 - 94  Bruins         77  32   80  112  10  45 16  2  3  0  197 
 1992 - 93  Bruins         84  45   97  142  15  32 24  1 11  0  254 
 1991 - 92  Blues          80  20   79   99  -9  22  6  0  4  2  191 
 1990 - 91  Blues          61  25   90  115  15  29  3  1  3  0  139 
 1989 - 90  Blues          80  23   79  102   9  30  0  0  0  0    0 
 1988 - 89  Red Wings      69  16   62   78  -1  14  0  0  0  0    0 
 1987 - 88  Red Wings      63  14   40   54  16  20  0  0  0  0    0 
 1986 - 87  Red Wings      76  15   32   47   0  21  0  0  0  0    0 
 1985 - 86  Red Wings      38   9   11   20 -24  10  0  0  0  0    0 
                 Totals  1277 339 1063 1402  36 421