Top 100 Oilers: Kevin Lowe (7)
6 years ago
With Kevin Lowe’s tenure with the Edmonton Oilers approaching 40 years since he became the first player the franchise ever drafted back in 1979, it follows his on-ice accomplishments fade a little bit with each passing year – even for those of us old enough to have watched Lowe play when the Oilers were parading up and down Jasper Avenue with the Stanley Cup.
Fans under the age of 30 likely think of Lowe primarily as a coach and manager – of some very forgettable teams, no less — because that’s what they remember. Rather than think of Lowe as one of the original Boys on the Bus, some consider him one of the charter members of the Old Boys Club, which was as derogatory a term as you could get during the dark days of this franchise. I’m of a vintage where I remember both, and when I separate one from the other, there’s not one shred of doubt in my mind Lowe is one of the greatest players ever to wear Edmonton silks.
Kevin Lowe
Defense
Born Apr 15 1959 — Lachute, PQ
Height 6.02 — Weight 200 [188 cm/91 kg]
Born Apr 15 1959 — Lachute, PQ
Height 6.02 — Weight 200 [188 cm/91 kg]
Drafted by Edmonton Oilers
Round 1 #21 overall 1979 NHL Entry Draft
BY THE NUMBERS
| Season | Age | Tm | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | S | S% | Awards |
| 1979-80 | 20 | EDM | 64 | 2 | 19 | 21 | 1 | 70 | 86 | 2.3 | |
| 1980-81 | 21 | EDM | 79 | 10 | 24 | 34 | -10 | 94 | 115 | 8.7 | |
| 1981-82 | 22 | EDM | 80 | 9 | 31 | 40 | 46 | 63 | 110 | 8.2 | AS-7,Norris-10 |
| 1982-83 | 23 | EDM | 80 | 6 | 34 | 40 | 39 | 43 | 92 | 6.5 | |
| 1983-84 | 24 | EDM | 80 | 4 | 42 | 46 | 37 | 59 | 81 | 4.9 | AS-12 |
| 1984-85 | 25 | EDM | 80 | 4 | 21 | 25 | 9 | 104 | 83 | 4.8 | AS-11,Norris-7 |
| 1985-86 | 26 | EDM | 74 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 24 | 90 | 57 | 3.5 | AS-13 |
| 1986-87 | 27 | EDM | 77 | 8 | 29 | 37 | 41 | 94 | 99 | 8.1 | AS-14 |
| 1987-88 | 28 | EDM | 70 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 18 | 89 | 82 | 11.0 | AS-5,Norris-5 |
| 1988-89 | 29 | EDM | 76 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 26 | 98 | 85 | 8.2 | AS-9,Norris-8 |
| 1989-90 | 30 | EDM | 78 | 7 | 26 | 33 | 18 | 140 | 74 | 9.5 | AS-10,Clancy-1 |
| 1990-91 | 31 | EDM | 73 | 3 | 13 | 16 | -9 | 113 | 51 | 5.9 | AS-13 |
| 1991-92 | 32 | EDM | 55 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -4 | 107 | 33 | 6.1 | AS-16 |
| 1992-93 | 33 | NYR | 49 | 3 | 12 | 15 | -2 | 58 | 52 | 5.8 | |
| 1993-94 | 34 | NYR | 71 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 4 | 70 | 50 | 10.0 | |
| 1994-95 | 35 | NYR | 44 | 1 | 7 | 8 | -2 | 58 | 35 | 2.9 | |
| 1995-96 | 36 | NYR | 53 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 20 | 76 | 30 | 3.3 | |
| 1996-97 | 37 | EDM | 64 | 1 | 13 | 14 | -1 | 50 | 46 | 2.2 | |
| 1997-98 | 38 | EDM | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 22 | 5 | 0.0 | |
| 15 yrs | EDM | 1037 | 74 | 309 | 383 | 232 | 1236 | 1099 | 6.7 | ||
| 4 yrs | NYR | 217 | 10 | 38 | 48 | 20 | 262 | 167 | 6.0 | ||
| Career | 1254 | 84 | 347 | 431 | 252 | 1498 | 1266 | 6.6 |
PLAYOFFS
| Season | Age | Tm | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | S | S% |
| 1979-80 | 20 | EDM | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.0 |
| 1980-81 | 21 | EDM | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 0.0 |
| 1981-82 | 22 | EDM | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0.0 |
| 1982-83 | 23 | EDM | 16 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 19 | 5.3 |
| 1983-84 | 24 | EDM | 19 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 15.8 |
| 1984-85 | 25 | EDM | 16 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 0.0 |
| 1985-86 | 26 | EDM | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 16 | 6.3 |
| 1986-87 | 27 | EDM | 21 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 22 | 21 | 9.5 |
| 1987-88 | 28 | EDM | 19 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 26 | 9 | 0.0 |
| 1988-89 | 29 | EDM | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 4 | 11 | 9.1 |
| 1989-90 | 30 | EDM | 20 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 0.0 |
| 1990-91 | 31 | EDM | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 14 | 5 | 20.0 |
| 1991-92 | 32 | EDM | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | -2 | 16 | 7 | 0.0 |
| 1993-94 | 34 | NYR | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 15 | 6.7 |
| 1994-95 | 35 | NYR | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -5 | 12 | 7 | 0.0 |
| 1995-96 | 36 | NYR | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| 1996-97 | 37 | EDM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1997-98 | 38 | EDM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Career | 214 | 10 | 48 | 58 | 49 | 192 | 186 | 5. |
AWARDS
1989-90 King Clancy Memorial Trophy
NOTABLE
Never in my life have I met anybody more competitive or more passionate about winning than Lowe, who did nothing but win here as a player, sipping from five Stanley Cups. He’d hack and fight. He’d knock your teeth out, if that’s what it took. Opponents who had the balls to do the same to him had better pack a lunch. He’d come back at them, broken bones and all, harder than ever. Is that all you’ve got? They called Lowe “Vish,” as in vicious, and it fit. Lowe hoisted the 1988 Stanley Cup with broken ribs and a broken wrist. He celebrated by holding up four fingers, encased in a plaster cast, for that one.
Truth be told, Lowe was competitive to a fault, and it wasn’t false bravado – a look-at-how-badly-I-want-to-win display. There was a fire burning there that was, at times, frightening on and off the ice. I saw it. I felt it. In his years as coach, GM and POHO when the franchise was floundering – outside reaching the 2006 Cup final – I often wondered how Lowe slept at night. While some frustrated fans raged about Lowe driving the franchise into the ditch while kicking back comfortably with a salary for life under ownership of the EIG and then Daryl Katz, I feared for his health. Nobody hated losing more than Lowe did. Nobody.
That competitive streak served Lowe well from the moment he arrived in Edmonton as the Oilers’ first-ever draft pick, taken 21st overall from the Quebec Remparts. While he’d share an apartment with Wayne Gretzky in their early years here, Lowe was in many ways the polar opposite of his roomie and the rest of the talented, young group of players the Oilers would gather after they came over from the WHA. Lowe, not without offensive skills, prided himself on playing a solid defensive game first. He was mean as hell in front of his own net. He blocked shots. He fought for every inch of ice. Lowe exacted a price from opponents and willingly paid it as well.
THE STORY
Lowe’s first tenure as a player with the Oilers ended after he held out for a new contract in the summer of 1992. GM Glen Sather traded him to the New York Rangers. Lowe won his sixth Cup with the Rangers in 1994 on a team that included former Oilers Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Craig MacTavish, Adam Graves and Esa Tikkanen. Lowe returned to Edmonton for the 1996-97 season after being signed as a free agent. He’d play 64 games that season on a team that had long before been gutted of its greats by owner Peter Pocklington.
“He has a heart the size of Cleveland, the guts and effort it takes to win,” Doug Weight said of Lowe a few months after his return to Edmonton. “And he knows it when he talks to us. He’s got it all as a leader.” It was no surprise for those who knew Lowe that he circled back. “I always knew that if the opportunity was here I’d come back to Edmonton,” he said. “First and foremost, because it is home. It’s where my friends are. It’s where I had the best days of my life and, hopefully, the best days to come.”
That, as we know, wasn’t to be. Lowe’s years as a coach and manager after he was forced into retirement by, of all things, an ear condition that affected his balance, never replicated his days as a player here. Really, how could they? Lowe scored the first NHL goal in franchise history. He won five Stanley Cups. He succeeded Messier as team captain. He was an all-star seven times. Along the way, Lowe played more regular season (1,037) and playoff games (172) than any other Oiler.
This series will look at the top 100 Edmonton Oilers from the NHL era 1979-80 to 2014-15, starting with 100 and working up.
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