The Oilers took the opportunity of Lowe’s only other squad, the New York Rangers, to honor someone who had been associated with the organization since his NHL debut in 1979.
The man was the defender of Lachute, near Montreal, the first player chosen by the oilers (center atheist twenty) when they moved from the World Hockey (WHA) Association to the National Hockey League (NHL).
I didn’t even know the Oilers were in the National League
The man is now 62 years old. I spoke with my agent, and he told me Chicago, Boston or Minnesota were potential destinations for me, but he never mentioned Edmonton.
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In his first National Hockey League game, a first in Chicago, Lowe scored the team’s first goal.
Reunion on the roof and on the ice rink
It was installed in front of a replica of his wardrobe that Kevin Lowe addressed to Oilers fans.
Photo: The Canadian Press/Jason Franson
The number 4 went to Kevin Lowe to find the numbers 3 of the Hamiltons, 7 of Paul Covey, 9 of Glenn Anderson, 11 of Mark Messier, 17 of Gary Currie, 31 of Grant Four, 99 of Wayne Gretzky on Rogers Place Roof .
All Lowe’s former teammates, with the exception of Gretsky and Fuhr, were present at the party, which lasted about an hour before the meeting began.
Kevin Lowe’s former teammate Craig McCabish and Oilers Entertainment (OEG) President Bob Nicholson spoke before Lowe addressed the crowd at the grandstand that opened at 4 p.m. 44 to accommodate them.
long waiting
There are two reasons for the long delay between Lowe’s last match with Oilers and his shirt removal.
First, he didn’t want to be hired by the team when he took off his shirt.
Upon his retirement in 1998, he was appointed by Oilers as assistant coach. After only one season as an assistant, he became head coach, and then another year, general manager of the team.
After eight seasons as GM, he was promoted to Head of Hockey Operations and held that position for seven seasons.
Since 2015, he has been vice president of OEG, but no longer works directly with Oilers.
Second, there is a rule with Oilers that only a player who has been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame can have their shirt removed by the team.
Kevin Lowe learned in June 2020 that he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and the induction ceremony will be held next week.
Long list of successes
The former No. 4 player has won the Stanley Cup five times with the Oilers and once with the Rangers. He is one of 24 players in NHL history to have won the Cup at least six times.
He played 1,037 games this season for the Oilers, making him number one in the field. He is also ranked first in the number of matches he played in the qualifiers with a score of 172.
In 9 seasons in the NHL, he played a total of 1,254 games in the season and 214 in the playoffs. He has appeared in the All-Star Game seven times and in 1990 won the King Clancy Trophy for his leadership skills on and off the ice.
Although it was his defensive play and toughness that made his mark in the NHL, he collected 432 points in the season and 58 in the playoffs.
