Lowe’s leadership is worthy of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Gretzky says

In 1979, Kevin Lowe was a defender who attended his first NHL training camp with the Edmonton Oilers. One of the first players he met there was Wayne Gretzky, who had played two seasons in the World Hockey Association and was taking part in his first NHL season in his 20-year career, when he would become an all-time leader in the NHL. goals (894), assists (1,963) and points (2,857). Gretzky suggested to Lowe that they buy the apartment together, and the 20-year-old quickly agreed. They won four Stanley Cups along with the Oilers (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988) before Gretzky was transferred to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988. Lowe, the 21st choice in the 1979 NHL Draft, won two. more Cups (1990 Oilers, 1994 New York Rangers).

All this time, they have remained best friends, and no one was happier to hear that Lowe was in the 2020 Hockey Hall of Fame membership class than Gretzky. “So well deserved,” Gretzky said. “No one was more competitive than Kevin. No one.” Here, Gretzky shares his thoughts on Lowe, who goes to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday as a special recommendation to NHL.com:

The satisfaction I get when I see my friend Kevin Lowe go to the Hockey Hall of Fame cuts deeper than just friendship. It is also an indication that a player’s legacy and value exceed statistics.

I say this all the time: Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howes and Bobby Orrs, those guys are few and far between, statistically and because of what they’ve done and achieved, and after all that’s gone. It’s part of the Hockey Hall of Fame lineup that kids will one day dream of imitating these players. But the reality is that those guys don’t show up too often.

Give a guy like Kevin.

Hard work, team leadership, dedication, selflessness are the things every player strives for. So it’s great to see them put a guy in the Hockey Hall of Fame where goals, passes and scores aren’t a yardstick. The fact is that being a team leader and selflessness and of course a champion means something very special. Many children can look at it and emulate it and have the same dream of being in the Hall of Fame like everyone else.

So I think this is a great moment, not just for the Oilers and Kevin, but also for the Hockey Hall of Fame. I think this is a great moment for everyone.

Kevin scored 431 points (84 goals, 347 assists) in 1,254 matches between Oilers and Rangers. He is the Oilers’ all-time leader in regular season games (1,037).

But what made Kevin so special was his competitiveness.

I don’t know if anyone survived the loss harder than Kevin. It was almost life and death for him. And I think it was very contagious throughout the locker room and served the group constantly.

From day one, it was not his responsibility to score 50 goals or get 100 points. But he was going to do his best to advance the team in the right way, in a way that helped us become champions. And I think the whole group feeds on it every day.

To that end, here’s a story I don’t think I’ve told before that highlights Kevin’s leadership and competitiveness. I think it’s one of Kevin Lowe’s stories that stands out from me.

It was the final of the 1984 Stanley Cup. We had lost to the New York Islanders last year and now we met them again. We won the first game 1-0 when our goalkeeper Grant Fuhr was standing on. Game 2 was nowhere near as successful; we got a shellack 6-1 and returned to Edmonton with a 1-1 draw.

I remember at that time you didn’t take direct charter books all the time. We went from New York to Chicago to Edmonton, where we headed to the arena to practice. It was a pretty heavy workout for the first few minutes. Everyone was down, and at the end of the playoffs, you’re tired of traveling back from New York. So it all ended with a careless exercise.

That’s when Kevin stepped in. He kind of took the exercise to do that day. Some of the exercises were quite intense. And such went through the hockey club for the first 10 minutes. Everyone took it from there. And then we won the next three games and won our first Stanley Cup.

Another example of the huge impact he had all the time in the hockey club.

When you grow up together, it’s a bond you don’t replace. So with guys like Kevin and Mark Messier and Paul Coffey, the list goes on and on. We are all still very close friends and have been like that even though we were no longer teammates.

With Kevin, I never forgot how much he wanted to win and compete. So when I was offered a job as Executive Director of Team Canada on my way to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the only condition I had was that I wanted Kevin next to me. He’s the kind of guy he wouldn’t hesitate to tell me if he thought I was doing something wrong or wasn’t going in the right direction. On the other hand, it was comforting that we thought the same way. On the other hand, if he thought something wasn’t quite right, he told me to improve the team.

Canada won Olympic gold for the first time in 50 years. And I was glad Kevin was sharing it with me.

Just like I am now when he officially joins the Hockey Hall of Fame.