Long-Timers: Dave Lowry

In the 102-year history of the National Hockey League, 348 individuals have played 1,000 or more regular season games. 44 of them, or 12.6%, have played some part of their career with the Atlanta or Calgary Flames. We call these players Long-Timers.

Let’s take a look at Dave Lowry.

Originally from Ontario, Lowry spent three seasons with the London Knights. He was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth round of the 1983 NHL Draft.

Lowry only spent a handful of seasons with the Canucks, playing two full seasons and slipping into tweener status by his third year. He was traded to St. Louis in 1988 for Ernie Vargas and began his tenure with the Blues as a tweener as well. But he carved out a role for himself as a smart, physical two-way center. He played with the Blues until 1993, when he was claimed in the expansion draft by the Florida Panthers.

Lowry spent three and a half seasons in Florida, taking on a tough minutes role for a pretty lean Panthers group. He was traded in 1997 with a first round pick to San Jose in exchange for Viktor Kozlov and a fifth round pick. He missed the better part of the 1999-2000 season with a nagging injury.

Eventually, Lowry landed with the Flames as a free agent in 2000. He played primarily as a bottom six center during his stint, but he was smart, useful and a hard guy to play against. His final season was upended due to injury, but he still played a big supporting role in the Flames’ run to the 2004 Stanley Cup Final. He retired at the end of the season, primarily due to his accumulating injuries.

But post-playing, Lowry got into coaching. He was with the Calgary Hitmen for four seasons, working up to head coach. He then joined the Flames, serving as an assistant for three seasons. Then he kept jumping from the NHL to the WHL: head coaching with Victoria, assisting in Los Angeles, and most recently head coaching in Brandon. He’s been named WHL coach of the year twice and is probably in line for an NHL gig before too long.

His son Adam plays for the Jets. His other son Joel is in Florida’s system.