Kevin Lowe - The Most Inept Executive in NHL History

[Joey Moss]

Absolutely, it'll take at least 3 years to get this management teams stink off this franchise.

Doubt it. A good management group would identify our problems fairly quickly and have the balls to move bigger assets to address them. Simply getting rid of Ference and Nikitin would be a hell of a start.

 

[Oilfan2]

I think the weather is a very convenient excuse.

Minnesota, Calgary, Detroit, Winnipeg, Montreal, Buffalo and Montreal all have similar weather.

Edmonton has more going culturally and socially than Minnesota, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Buffalo, and Detroit.


Edmonton is just a putrid organization, and the players don't want to play for Lowe.

Especially Montreal...

 

[TheGuyInTheChair]

Happy birthday Lowe! I hate you. Quit.

 

[sepHF]

making the final in 2006 was the worst thing that ever happened to this team

 

[KMart27]

making the final in 2006 was the worst thing that ever happened to this team

I don't know how to really respond to this except to say it is one of the dumbest things I have ever read.

 

[Beerfish]

making the final in 2006 was the worst thing that ever happened to this team

No, not really. Making it to the 2006 final and people not realizing it was a huge fluke is the worst thing that could have happened.

 

[Tarus]

making the final in 2006 was the worst thing that ever happened to this team

It's not the worst(Gretzky trade), but it's up there.

Lowe gets elevated from budget GM for a budget conscious ownership to outright untouchable, Mact gets extended and brought back as GM while his history as a terrible coach and complete lack logical ability gets whitewashed, and Howson gets enough acclaim to ruin half a decade for a different franchise as GM before coming back to inflict more of his "best talent evaluating abilities in the NHL" on Oiler fans.

It was a nice run, but it also reinforced the massive egos of the people who are now running the franchise through the mud.

 

[Gunnersaurus Rex]

The Oilers will still be bad even after Lowe is gone.

Can't get worse....

 

[Gone]

Let me start the entire thing with this tidbit here:

The Edmonton Oilers are the 2nd longest post-season drought in NHL history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...on_droughts#Post-season_appearance_droughts_2

I am too lazy to look, but wonder how many managers on that list of losers kept their jobs. I suspect a vast majority of those teams cleaned house.

Is it worth starting a poll to see if KLowe is the most 'hated' man in Edmonton's history?

 

[Gone]

Can't get worse....

This. In fact, fire the ole boys club and watch all sorts of people throw money at the team!

 

[IV XIV XCI]

it's just endless belief that "we're close and next year we'll be better, just wait til next year"

totally delusional and a lack of accountability.

 

[IV XIV XCI]

Katz rexalled his balls off (he rexBalled himself) and can't pull the trigger on any proper moves that require him no longer being friends with his childhood idols

 

[RobBrown4PM]

When did the Oilers get Acton? Acton was in control of the Leafs PK for years, his record is far from even decent running the PK.

 

[oobga]

I am too lazy to look, but wonder how many managers on that list of losers kept their jobs. I suspect a vast majority of those teams cleaned house.

Is it worth starting a poll to see if KLowe is the most 'hated' man in Edmonton's history?

Since only Jersey from 77-78 to 87-88 and Florida from 99-00 to 11-12 have had as bad or worse droughts as our current one, we can take a quick look to see if they allowed their top management guy to keep his job through all the losing.


New Jersey highest level managers (GMs) through their drought:

Ray Miron 1976-1981
Bill MacMillan 1981-1983
Max McNab 1983-1987
Lou Lamoriello 1987-Present

That's 3 management changes in their top spot (no made up POHO-like position was created so their top management guy could hide behind the scenes).


Florida Panther's highest level managers (GMs) during their drought:

Bryan Murray 1994-2000
Bill Torrey 2000-2001
Chuck Fletcher 2001-2002
Rick Dudley 2002-2004
Mike Keenan 2004-2006
Jacques Martin 2006-2009
Randy Sexton 2009-2010
Dale Tallon 2010-Present

Long list No made up position for them either for one of these guys to try to hide and still keep their job as top manager.


Oilers highest level manager through our playoff drought:

Kevin Lowe 2000-Whenever he feels like stepping down


Looks like it's not even close, no one has kept their job as top manager of an NHL team through as much losing as Kevin Lowe has lead us to. Congrats to Lowe, the ultimate survivor.

 

[OilTastic]

No, not really. Making it to the 2006 final and people not realizing it was a huge fluke is the worst thing that could have happened.

i know, but flukes happen in sports all the time and they count just as much....just look at last season's Kansas City Royals.

 

[Beerfish]

i know, but flukes happen in sports all the time and they count just as much....just look at last season's Kansas City Royals.

That is not the point though. The fact that it was through a huge set of good luck and players playing out of their minds to go along with barely eeking into the playoffs in the 1st place the rational person would realize that the team was not that close to being a perennial contender. Especially after Pronger said good bye.

Instead the Oilers signed some of the over achievers to too long of a term for too much money. They also convinced themselves (and a lot of fans) that macT was some kind of great coach.

The one cup run in the middle of overall poor management and coaching gave the regime just a ton of undeserved cred going forward.

First they went of the ill fates whale hunts trying to get the Vanek, Hossa, Nylander, Heatley. (and thank god they were crappy at closing the deal on some of those).

Then they went into rebuild mode but had two wait a few years for the bad contracts to go away. Since then it has been one large bag of fail with the latest incarnation being the worst. (That being the MacT era).

Probably the thing I found the most mind boggling of all was the support a good number of fans had for mact when hired and the total lack of diligence of local and national media in questioning the guys total lack of qualifications to be a gm at a critical time in the franchise.

The team has been and will be an utter joke for some time. After about 6 years of utter suckage the gm telling all next year is another 'developmental' year and they are looking for modest improvement is 100% outrageous. And yet the guy is only challenged by a few media types on it.

 

[Del Preston]

When did the Oilers get Acton? Acton was in control of the Leafs PK for years, his record is far from even decent running the PK.

Summer 2013. Eakins brought Acton with him.

 

[syz]

Summer 2013. Eakins brought Acton with him.

Two of them, to be precise.

 

[rboomercat90]

That is not the point though. The fact that it was through a huge set of good luck and players playing out of their minds to go along with barely eeking into the playoffs in the 1st place the rational person would realize that the team was not that close to being a perennial contender. Especially after Pronger said good bye.

Instead the Oilers signed some of the over achievers to too long of a term for too much money. They also convinced themselves (and a lot of fans) that macT was some kind of great coach.

The one cup run in the middle of overall poor management and coaching gave the regime just a ton of undeserved cred going forward.

First they went of the ill fates whale hunts trying to get the Vanek, Hossa, Nylander, Heatley. (and thank god they were crappy at closing the deal on some of those).

Then they went into rebuild mode but had two wait a few years for the bad contracts to go away. Since then it has been one large bag of fail with the latest incarnation being the worst. (That being the MacT era).

Probably the thing I found the most mind boggling of all was the support a good number of fans had for mact when hired and the total lack of diligence of local and national media in questioning the guys total lack of qualifications to be a gm at a critical time in the franchise.

The team has been and will be an utter joke for some time. After about 6 years of utter suckage the gm telling all next year is another 'developmental' year and they are looking for modest improvement is 100% outrageous. And yet the guy is only challenged by a few media types on it.

Huh? Which few media types challenged Mactavish? I don't remember any. That might have been the biggest disappointment of the day. I couldn't agree any more with the rest of your post though.

 

[beaterson]

Gilbert and Petry looking great tonight after Subban got the boot. What a surprise.

I feel like a lot of our under performing D would really be different players under a different org. Hell Schultz could even be an NHLer with a strong system to develop in.

But we already know that right?

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

Gilbert and Petry looking great tonight after Subban got the boot. What a surprise.

I feel like a lot of our under performing D would really be different players under a different org. Hell Schultz could even be an NHLer with a strong system to develop in.

But we already know that right?

Almost every single one of our players would look better on other teams that would put them in their proper positions on the depth chart.

 

[Jumptheshark]

There is definitely no excuse for Lowe still being in control of this team. I highly doubt there is any guy in the highest management position (aside from an owner) that has kept their job in the NHL through as much losing as Lowe has.

Lowe is like Eakins. Both guys should have been fired long before they were (assuming one day Lowe is fired or steps down), but this organization is allowing them to be terrible for so long that they are able to compete for the title of worst ever for the job they're doing.

mike milbury is the most inept of all time

 

[Up the Irons]

it's just endless belief that "we're close and next year we'll be better, just wait til next year"

totally delusional and a lack of accountability.

that and this ridiculous attachment to these high draft pics, or any player they identified as part of the 'core'. As late as Monday Mact still went on about keeping the core. For some reason, they can't entertain the notion of trading a good player for a different type of good player. They give these reasons like: it would be a waste to trade Hall or Yak because we paid so dearly to get him; sillyness.

There should be only one question in deciding a trade: will the team be better off now and going forward with this player vrs that. The fact that player X was a first overall should be irrelevant. but, it's not with this management team. they are married to their decisions

So we continue on with the wrong mix of talent, too much of one thing and not enough of everything else.

 

[Up the Irons]

mike milbury is the most inept of all time

nope. KLowe leaves him in the dust.

KLowe is, WITHOUT A DOUBT, the worst NHL exec of all time. AINEC!!!!!!!

 

[MuzikMachine]

Remember when Lowe finally responded to Burke about a year after he signed Penner? At the time I thought finally, but when I recently listened to it on YouTube, Lowe should have just stayed quiet.

The best quote, "[Bobby] Ryan is a marginal pick at best".

It pains me to say it, but when Brian Burke said Lowe was running the franchise into the sewer, he was right.