Edmonton Oilers Legacy

No one represents the Edmonton Oilers better than Kevin Lowe. He was the franchise’s first NHL draft pick, he scored the first goal in team history, he became the sixth Edmonton captain and was a part of all five Stanley Cups in the River City as a player. Then he traded in his sweaty gear for a tailored suit. Following his retirement, the Quebec-born blueliner spent the 1998-99 season as an assistant to head coach Ron Low and just two years later ascended to the post of general manager, replacing his mentor, the legendary Glen Sather.

Sandwiched in between those two positions was Lowe’s one-year tenure as head coach of the Oilers. As the head coach, he was determined to run a tighter ship than his predecessor. Lowe tried to gain an advantage by placing a high importance on preparation and physical conditioning.

"If you’re prepared, nothing is a surprise," he told Zone magazine that season.

As a player, Lowe displayed a fiery, determined temperament. It soon became apparent that the manner in which he coached his player would define the way Lowe played the game. He was, to put it mildly, intense when he wore the uniform, and the tie around his neck did little to diminish that obvious passion for hockey. In fact, the ties tightened when things failed to go right for the team, and Lowe’s bulging veins were proof that coaching the Oilers could be an emotional roller coaster. Legend has it that the volatile bench boss, a true gentleman off the ice, had a penchant for berating officials and tossing the odd inanimate object that appeared in his path. "Losing" was a word he would have preferred to eradicate from his vocabulary.

With Lowe in charge, the season was a relatively fruitful one for the Oiler franchise. The team finished a respectable 32-26-16-8 and was just eight points shy of the Northwest Division winners, the Colorado Avalanche. Edmonton faced the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. The Oilers lost three games by one goal en route to a five-game exit, but the advancing Stars paid dearly, as many were left battered and bruised. That, however, was no consolation to the coach.

The series-clinching 3-2 win on Dallas ice in April of 2000 would be the last game in Lowe’s brief coaching career.