Confirmed with Link: Kevin Lowe Retiring as Vice Chair

[McShogun99]

I wouldn't let a bad stretch from 2007 to 2015 tarnish his career. We had to go scorched earth since no one wanted to play here. Lowe is an Oiler legend.

 

[grego]

He wasn't bad as a coach and was ok for a few years of gm. Had he not had heart ties to the org and been canned after a few years as gm the hate would be less.

He wasn't the worst gm ever in the NHL. He did stay past his expiry date as a gm because the org refused to move on.

 

[belair]

He knew a little bit about winning, if there was ever a concern.

 

[Joey Moss]

Fitting announcement on Chris Pronger trade anniversary

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

 

[Soundwave]

Fitting announcement on Chris Pronger trade anniversary

Happy Pronger-Peca day everyone!

 

[Stoneman89]

Happy retirement to Kevin and all the best. What a player, what a heart. Unfortunate that the very thing that made him so great as a player (his fire and competitiveness), proved to be somewhat of a detriment once he got into a management role, which requires calmer, more reasoned behavior. But I'll always remember the good stuff fondly.

 

[Soundwave]

I'm beginning to wonder if there is kind of like a shift happening in the organization.

Katz will be moved out as "official owner" transferring ownership into a trust type structure held by his two children.

Lowe retiring

Bobby Burgers retiring

These are guesses, but I kinda wonder if that isn't a thing happening now.

 

[PULSATING]

Oh hell yeah, I can finally stop paying for the billboard

 

[joestevens29]

The guy probably had one of the best seasons that an Oiler GM has had.

Pronger, Peca, Samsonov, Tarnstrom, Spacek, Rollie all in one year. Unfortunate that Pronger wanted out and derailed a good thing.

 

[Homesick]

- Was the Oilers first draft pick.
- Was a leader on multiple championship teams
- Coached the Oilers to a respectable record
- Had an unreal off-season in 2005 and followed that up with one of the best trade deadlines in franchise history in 2006
- Was always involved with the local community

Kevin Lowe, I can only speak for myself. You will be missed and I wish you a happy retirement.

2006 is my fondest memory as an adult Oiler fan and he was the architect of it all. Happy retirement #4

 

[Oil53]

Met Lowe a couple of times in his playing days.Five star human being.
He did and does bleed Oiler blue but,as we discussed business a bit,
struck me as not too savvy on that front.Wish him the best and thank you for all that you did and tried to do for this team and city.

 

[Maple Leaf]

These guys know how to win

 

[94 Oil Drops]

You guys are f***ed. This guy bleeds Oilers.

Thanks for everything and good luck.

He sure did. Unfortunately he was also bad at his job. He was a good player and started strong as a GM but everything fell apart after that. His ego, stubbornness, and horrible drafting became legendary as the team he was in charge of fell apart and stayed broken for years.

Who am I to judge though? I'm just a tier 2 fan. Maybe I'm just a salty dog and don't appreciate him as much because almost every memory I have of the man is a bad one and I'm not old enough to have watched him play. All the best to him I guess.

 

[Soundwave]

He sure did. Unfortunately he was also bad at his job. He was a good player and started strong as a GM but everything fell apart after that. His ego, stubbornness, and horrible drafting became legendary as the team he was in charge of fell apart and stayed broken for years.

Who am I to judge though? I'm just a tier 2 fan. Maybe I'm just a salty dog and don't appreciate him as much because almost every memory I have of the man is a bad one and I'm not old enough to have watched him play. All the best to him I guess.

Didn't he draft Hemsky and Stoll? Imagine we had Hemsky and Stoll instead of Puljujarvi and Yamamoto.

 

[McDoused]

Favourite Kevin Lowe moment was when he traded for Chris Pronger.

 

[oobga]

He sure did. Unfortunately he was also bad at his job. He was a good player and started strong as a GM but everything fell apart after that. His ego, stubbornness, and horrible drafting became legendary as the team he was in charge of fell apart and stayed broken for years.

Who am I to judge though? I'm just a tier 2 fan. Maybe I'm just a salty dog and don't appreciate him as much because almost every memory I have of the man is a bad one and I'm not old enough to have watched him play. All the best to him I guess.

As soon as he had to start hiring ppl his ability to "win" was pretty much over unless we got enough gifts from the draft. When all you can think to do to hire for important positions is hire your friends it's a huge handicap vs teams that are actually being professional and trying to find the best people.

He was a good manager himself because he's damn stubborn and didn't want anyone to get the better of him (which got him into trouble a few times). Ironic that he ended up creating a group below him full of dummies that were constantly being taken advantage of by the rest of the league. But, being a good stingy negotiator doesn't automatically mean you're good at hiring people, obviously. Clearly he had a huge blind spot when it came to the old boys club.

 

[PBandJ]

My favorite memory was him being an asshole and costing us Corey Perry in the Comrie trade.

 

[oilers'72]

And scored the Oilers’ first NHL goal

 

[ghostingtaro]

he knows a thing or two about winning, can we build a statue of him

 

[Mr Kot]

Ironically enough, he was probabably one of our best GM's the last few decades. Good player, good GM iw oudl say, just a hot head at the worst times.

 

[oilers'72]

My favorite memory was him being an asshole and costing us Corey Perry in the Comrie trade.

How much did EIG and their short pockets play into Lowe wanting Comrie to give back the $2.5M signing bonus?

That Time $2.5M Prevented Perry From Being An Oiler

In December 2003 the Edmonton Oilers were on the verge of acquiring Corey Perry for Mike Comrie but $2.5M got in the way of them landing a future star.

thehockeywriters.com

 

[Soundwave]

The guy probably had one of the best seasons that an Oiler GM has had.

Pronger, Peca, Samsonov, Tarnstrom, Spacek, Rollie all in one year. Unfortunate that Pronger's wife wanted out and derailed a good thing.

Fixed that for you. Welp, at least Flames fans now know what it feels like to be f***ed over by your best player's American born wife.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

A season for the ages as GM in 2005-06..everything he touched turned to gold
Unfortunately he traded Pronger for magic beans, Smyth for magic beans
Then hired Tambo as his successor

All which set this franchise back a decade

 

[Drivesaitl]

How much did EIG and their short pockets play into Lowe wanting Comrie to give back the $2.5M signing bonus?

That Time $2.5M Prevented Perry From Being An Oiler

In December 2003 the Edmonton Oilers were on the verge of acquiring Corey Perry for Mike Comrie but $2.5M got in the way of them landing a future star.

thehockeywriters.com

Did the EIG tell Lowe to rake Comrie over the coals and blame him after a playoff loss too? Not sure what it was but Lowe despised Comrie and took every chance to belittle him. Same thing with Smyth. Lowe had this elitist aspect to him that constantly said that he was some kind of hockey loyalty and that all the current players were beneath him.

Lowe at the time of the Comrie buyout demand was widely critiqued by other GM's and the NHLPA and defended his actions as his own. he went rogue.