Kevin Hugh Lowe (born April 15, 1959) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive, former coach and former player.
Lowe played 13 full seasons in his first stint with the Oilers and helped lead them to five Stanley Cup championships.
On the night the Oilers won the Cup, Wayne Gretzky informed the media that Lowe was also hiding broken ribs throughout the playoffs.
Leading the Oilers to an ugly 1-5-1 start in early October, the team overcame the change of captaincy to finish with a 36-34-10 record.
In 1994, he won the Stanley Cup with six other ex-Oilers—Glenn Anderson, Jeff Beukeboom, Adam Graves, Craig MacTavish, Mark Messier, and Esa Tikkanen—bringing his total to six.
He started the 1997–98 season with the Oilers as well but only played 7 games before being forced to retire due to an inner-ear virus that affected his balance.
In total, Lowe played in 1254 career regular season games, scoring 84–347–431 with 1498 penalty minutes.
During his professional hockey career, Lowe did not play a single game in the minor leagues, and his teams only once failed to make the playoffs.
He was promoted to general manager of the Oilers in 2000 when long-time GM Glen Sather left for the New York Rangers.
In the 2006–2007 NHL offseason, Lowe offered contracts to restricted free agents Thomas Vanek, which was matched by the Buffalo Sabres, then to Anaheim forward Dustin Penner, which was signed.
"[6] Then head coach Craig MacTavish responded by referring Burke to the Wizard of Oz, "You comb his hair, put a white shirt on, wheel him out in front of the camera and he'll say whatever you guys want.
Clifford was involved in operating a local hockey rink, so his children skated there from an early age, with Lowe starting when he was 3 years old.