Such was the case last June when Jack Adams was at home in Massachusetts watching the draft, anticipating at any moment he was going to become an NHL draft pick.
Sometime toward the end of the sixth round, Adams was a little down. He thought for sure he would have been selected by then. After all, he led the USHL with 37 goals during the 2016-17 season and finished fifth in scoring with 60 points.
Adams received a phone call from his advisor, who was surprised Adams wasn't more upbeat. He asked his advisor why he should be happy.
"You were selected by the Detroit Red Wings," his advisor told him. Adams responded by telling him he was watching the draft and didn't hear his name, but he did.
He just didn't know it was him.
When the Wings drafted Adams in the sixth round, they announced, "John Adams," which is his name, but he has been called Jack since he was an infant.
Once the confusion was cleared up, Adams became emotional as it was true he was drafted by the Red Wings.
During development camp, the 6-foot-5, 205-pound right wing surprised the Wings with his deceptive speed and his nose for the net.
For the past few summers, Adams has worked with Paul Vincent on his skating and skill level on Cape Cod.
Vincent is regarded as one of hockey's best skating and skills instructors. He is currently the head skills instructor for the Florida Panthers.
Adams was a freshman last year at Union College. He had an adjustment period but showed steady improvement as the season progressed for the Dutchmen.
With a strong work ethic and a desire to become better, Adams, much like recent Wings signee David Pope, has his entire collegiate career to make an impression on the Red Wings.
Based on his early returns, Detroit has noticed.
28 - Number of games Adams played for Union.
4 - In those 28 games, Adams notched four goals, which was second among freshmen for the Dutchmen. Fellow forward Liam Morgan led Union's freshmen with six goals.
13- Adams was second in freshmen scoring with 13 points. Morgan was tops with 16 points.
+1- His plus/minus rating.
4-0-0- Union College was undefeated when Adams scored a goal.
10- Number of games Adams did not dress for the Dutchmen.
162 - Detroit took Adams in the sixth round, 162nd overall.
Quotable: "Jack really improved throughout the course of the season for us. What was really impressive about Jack was his vision, his ability to create plays coming out of our defensive zone, making the right play which led to rushes and scoring chances. That was one of the areas where Jack was kind of a surprise. His size and skating ability, he was able to use that as the season wore on and he became a valuable asset for us and he actually had some power play time. One of the hardest things to do is to get players, especially after the season he had in the USHL, transitioning to college, to get a player with his skill set to play a 200-foot game. People have a variation to what a 200-foot game is. Ours is a little different at Union College than somewhere else and for what we wanted, I think Jack had his ups and downs with it, and towards the end of the season, he was really starting to pick that up. Players when they're not playing sometimes they're not happy and if they are happy, I'm not sure that's a guy the Red Wings want." - Rick Bennett, head coach at Union College
