OHL alumni Adam Henrique has witnessed a reverse sweep before and is leaning on his OHL Championship pedigree in the Stanley Cup Final as a complementary depth piece on Edmonton
Early in the second period of Game 6 in the Stanley Cup Final on Friday night, Mattias Janmark saucered the puck over to Adam Henrique who made no mistake sniping the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead. His goal would end up as the game-winner
The former Windsor Spitfire is appearing in his second Stanley Cup Final (previously with New Jersey in 2012) and is striving to add the holy grail to his trophy case.
Henrique’s time in the OHL was glamorous. He spent all four years of his major junior hockey career in Windsor, winning back-to-back OHL and Memorial Cup Championships in 2009 and 2010.
Henrique isn’t popping off in the stat sheet column, but his smart puck management and physical play have provided ex-Erie Head Coach Kris Knoblauch a reliable depth option in Edmonton’s lineup. And his time as a playoff performer in the OHL is paying off.
Here’s a fun fact, if the Oilers win Game 7, it would mark the second time in Adam Henrique’s career that he has been a part of a team that has rallied back from a 3-0 series deficit.
In the 2010 OHL Western Conference Finals, the Kitchener Rangers went up 3-0 against Henrique and the Windsor Spitfires. Windsor struggled to contain Kitchener’s firepower, allowing 17 goals against in the first three games of the series. Back in those days, it was Jeff Skinner and 2022 Stanley Cup Champion Gabriel Landeskog who were feasting on the Spitfires.
Alas, Windsor fought back, and through the help of their star goal-scorer Adam Henrique, they took the next four games and completed the unthinkable comeback. Henrique scored in every game except Game 1 and finished the series with an astonishing nine goals (six through Games 4-7).
The Spitfires swept the Barrie Colts in the OHL Finals and Henrique was named OHL Playoffs MVP. Henrique scored five goals in the Championship series and was a goal-scoring machine throughout those 2010 playoffs, totaling 20 goals (most amongst all players) in 19 games, and was held without a goal in only five games.
Adam Henrique and his Spitfire teammate, and former first overall pick by the Oilers Taylor Hall, went on to lead the 2010 Memorial Cup tournament in scoring with Henrique finishing behind his counterpart with four goals and eight points in four games on the way to hoisting the Memorial Cup for the second straight year.
In the year prior, Henrique scored 17 points in 20 playoff games as his team defeated the Brampton Battalion in five games to win the 2009 OHL Championship. Funny enough looking back on that series, he and future NHL all-star Matt Duchene had themselves a little scrap in Game 4.
Henrique led Windsor in scoring during their 2009 Memorial Cup win with nine points, tying current Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn for the tournament lead in scoring.
Florida and Edmonton battle it out Monday night for all the marbles. Will Adam Henrique use his playing experience in high-pressure games to create a memory that will live long in Edmonton Oilers history?
Let’s not forget that Henrique has broken the hearts of Panthers fans before. In 2012 as a member of the New Jersey Devils, Henrique scored two goals in Game 7 of their first round series against Florida, including the game-winner in double overtime.
That Game 7 was also played in Florida, just saying.
Also, in those same 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Henrique scored another overtime winner. In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Henrique dug out the puck from behind New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and sent New Jersey to the Stanley Cup Final.