Kevin Lowe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg/14 st 4 lb)
Pro clubs	Edmonton Oilers New York Rangers
Nationality	Canada
Born	April 15, 1959 (1959-04-15) (age 49), Lachute, QC, CAN
NHL Draft	21st overall, 1979 Edmonton Oilers
Pro career	1979 – 1998

Kevin Hugh Lowe (born April 15, 1959) in Lachute, Quebec, is a former defenceman and coach in the National Hockey League and the current General Manager of the Edmonton Oilers. As a defenceman, he played for the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Rangers. He is married to Canadian Olympian Karen Percy.

[edit] Background and early career

Lowe played 3 seasons starting in 1976 with the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. He scored 42–131–173 in 201 games played, with 245 PIM. In the 1978–79 season, he was named the first English-speaking captain of a QMJHL team. He was drafted in the first round, 21st overall, of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers.

[edit] NHL playing career

Lowe played 13 full seasons in his first stint with the Oilers, winning 5 Stanley Cups. He was team captain for the 1991–92 season.

The Oilers traded him to the New York Rangers, in December 1992 (Lowe was a restricted free-agent). There he helped other ex-Oilers Glenn Anderson, Jeff Beukeboom, Adam Graves, Craig MacTavish, Mark Messier, and Esa Tikkanen to win another Stanley Cup, bringing his personal total to 6.

In 1996, he re-joined the Oilers as a free agent, and played another full season. He started the 1997–98 season with the Oilers as well, but only played 7 games due to illness - an inner-ear virus that affected his balance, thus ending his playing career.

In total, Lowe played in 1254 career regular season games, scoring 84–347–431 with 1498 penalty minutes. He added another 214 playoff games, scoring 10–48–58 and earning 192 penalty minutes.

[edit] Post playing career

Lowe joined the Oilers staff in 1998 as an assistant coach. In 1999, he took over head coaching duties from Ron Low. He was head coach for just a single season, getting the Oilers to the first round of the playoffs. He was appointed the team's general manager in 2000 when long-time GM Glen Sather left for the New York Rangers. Since then, he has been the Oilers' Executive Vice President and General Manager.

Lowe has also been responsible for assisting Canadian national hockey teams. He was a member of the management team for the Canadian men's ice hockey team at the 2002 Winter Olympics that won the gold medal, and was also named a manager for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey team. In addition, he has managed Team Canada at World Hockey Championships.

In 2005, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League created the Kevin Lowe Trophy (Trophée Kevin Lowe), awarded annually to the player in the QMJHL judged to be the best defensive defenceman.

[edit] Notable achievements

Kevin Lowe holds the Edmonton Oilers record for most regular season and playoff games played as an Oiler (1037 and 172). He was the team's first-ever NHL draft pick, and scored their first NHL goal (a power play goal against the Chicago Blackhawks assisted by Wayne Gretzky and Brett Callighen). During his professional hockey career, Lowe did not play a single game in the minor leagues, and his teams only once failed to make the playoffs.

Kevin Lowe was named an NHL all-star in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1993. He also won the league's King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 1990.

[edit] Career statistics

                                            --- Regular Season ---  ---- Playoffs ----
Season   Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1976-77  Quebec Remparts             QMJHL  69    3   19   22   39
1977-78  Quebec Remparts             QMJHL  64   13   52   65   86
1978-79  Quebec Remparts             QMJHL  68   26   60   86  120
1979-80  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    64    2   19   21   70   3   0   1   1   0
1980-81  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    79   10   24   34   94   9   0   2   2  11
1981-82  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    80    9   31   40   63   5   0   3   3   0
1982-83  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    80    6   34   40   43  16   1   8   9  10
1983-84  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    80    4   42   46   59  19   3   7  10  16
1984-85  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    80    4   22   26  104  16   0   5   5   8
1985-86  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    74    2   16   18   90  10   1   3   4  15
1986-87  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    77    8   29   37   94  21   2   4   6  22
1987-88  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    70    9   15   24   89  19   0   2   2  26
1988-89  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    76    7   18   25   98   7   1   2   3   4
1989-90  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    78    7   26   33  140  20   0   2   2  10
1990-91  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    73    3   13   16  113  14   1   1   2  14
1991-92  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    55    2    8   10  107  11   0   3   3  16
1992-93  New York Rangers            NHL    49    3   12   15   58  --  --  --  --  --
1993-94  New York Rangers            NHL    71    5   14   19   70  22   1   0   1  20
1994-95  New York Rangers            NHL    44    1    7    8   58  10   0   1   1  12
1995-96  New York Rangers            NHL    53    1    5    6   76  10   0   4   4   4
1996-97  Edmonton Oilers             NHL    64    1   13   14   50   1   0   0   0   0
1997-98  Edmonton Oilers             NHL     7    0    0    0   22   1   0   0   0   4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         NHL Totals                       1254   84  348  432 1498 214  10  48  58 192

[edit] References/External links

• Kevin Lowe's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• An Oiler Original.
• HockeyDraft Central.
• Edmonton Oilers Heritage site Video of Oilers 1st NHL goal by Kevin Lowe
• Hockey Hall of Fame. Kevin Lowe's biography at Legends of Hockey