It was a good day to be a member of the Edmonton Oilers organization. General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Ken Holland and former defenseman Kevin Lowe have been named to the Hockey Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony is currently scheduled for November.
Holland enters the Hall of Fame in the builder category for his work with the Detroit Red Wings. With the Red Wings, Holland led the team to the Stanley Cup four times (1997, 1998, 2002, 2008). With Holland leading Hockey Operations, the Red Wings won more combined regular-season and playoff games than any NHL team (1,044). He served as General Manager from 1997 until the spring of 2019.
Shortly after Steve Yzerman took over as GM, Holland headed to Edmonton and took his current role with the Oilers.
“I am incredibly humbled by this honor,” Holland told NHL.com. “I am in this game because I loved it as a young man and I am happy to have been able to stay in the game.”
Lowe, meanwhile, is an Oilers legend. He was the club’s first draft choice, 21st overall, in 1979. He also scored the team’s first NHL goal in October of 1979.
Lowe was a part of all five Stanley Cups in Edmonton Oilers history, and won a sixth Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994, A top-four defenseman throughout his career, Lowe was known as a leader who played the game the right way.
In his career, Lowe scored 431 points (84-347-431) in 1,254 regular-season games. He tacked on 58 points (10-48-58) in 214 playoff games with both the Oilers and Rangers.
“I think I perhaps represent the next level of guys who helped to win championships,” Lowe told NHL.com in the same release. “I appreciate that my contributions to the teams I played on are being recognized in this way.”
The question now for Lowe is when his number 4 will be retired to the rafters. The Oilers have a long standing policy that they only retire the jersey number of Hall of Fame players. Lowe has now joined that elite class.
Since Lowe left the Oilers as a player, Taylor Hall and currently Kris Russell have worn the number four.
In addition to playing for the team from 1979-92 and 1996-98, Lowe served as head coach of the Oilers during the 1999-00 season, going 32-26-16-8 and leading the team to the playoffs, where they lost to the Dallas Stars in five games.
Lowe then served as General Manager of the Oilers, leading the team to a Western Conference Championship in 2006. Lowe added star players Michael Peca and Chris Pronger in August of 2005, then added Jaroslav Spacek, Sergei Samsonov and Dwayne Roloson at the trade deadline.
Lowe also served as President of Hockey Operations for the club.
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