Lowry laments juggling roles of coach, dad

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This article was published 13/11/2022 (675 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SEATTLE — Dave Lowry is too modest to say it, but there’s little doubt he was put in a near-impossible situation last season with the Winnipeg Jets, one that was probably doomed from the start.

Paul Maurice, the team’s long-time bench boss, had abruptly resigned a week before Christmas. And there was Lowry, the relatively new assistant coach and father of one of the core players on the team, who was left to try and pick up the pieces of a splintered and sputtering squad.

All the time wearing the “interim” label.

“The hardest part is that you have a kid in the room,” said Lowry, in a candid, wide-ranging conversation over the weekend. The former NHLer, who played 19 seasons and 1,084 games, now serves as an assistant to head coach Dave Hakstol with the sophomore Seattle Kraken.

“There’s a reason why that doesn’t happen, why it hasn’t happened often in the NHL. And I think that was probably the toughest thing.”

With no quick fix or miracle on ice in sight, the Jets limped across the finish line. And then came the housecleaning, with Lowry on the outside looking in after general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff announced a thorough summer job search would be held — one he claimed Lowry was free to re-apply for. Spoiler alert: He never did.

“I think the ship had probably sailed. I’m a realist,” said Lowry, who inherited a Maurice-led team that was 13-10-5, then guided them to a 26-22-6 record over the final 54 games, ultimately missing the playoffs. “Yeah, I’m disappointed the way that it ended. But I’m grateful for the opportunity.”

Lowry said there’s no hard feelings toward the Jets — “Listen, I still got a kid on the team” — even if he feels he was never given the runway he needed to truly make an impact. Some of the frustrating bad player habits that drove Maurice out of town remained, and Lowry was unable to get all of the players to buy in. In fact, by the end of the year, the group appeared more fractured than ever, including several examples of public finger-pointing.

“You know what, it’s always easy to look back and say, Yes,’” Lowry said in response to a question about whether he has regrets. You get the feeling he was a bit like the substitute teacher who is thrown into a classroom filled with misbehaving children who see an even greater opportunity to push boundaries.

“I think the hardest thing is to take over a team mid-season and try to make a whole bunch of changes. I know that if the opportunity was there to start the year, yeah, there are things I would have done differently. I would have been able to change things, for sure.”

“I think the biggest compliment we got from a lot of the players is that they didn’t even know I had a kid on the team.”–Dave Lowry

Unfortunately, there was a tough price to pay. His relationship with his son, Jets centre Adam Lowry, took an unavoidable hit.

“(Adam) is a leader, everyone knows that. But, realistically he lost his voice last year in the room,” said Lowry.

“It’s always a tough spot going into the circumstances that brought me into it. No.1, I came to Winnipeg (from the Brandon Wheat Kings) and there was an adjustment there as an assistant coach. There was a period of time, you’re coaching with your son, you have to make sure everyone understands on a professional level. And I think the biggest compliment we got from a lot of the players is that they didn’t even know I had a kid on the team. That was one of the things that you had to give up.”

Lowry said there wasn’t a whole lot of time to consider the big picture when Maurice stunned everyone by stepping down.

“It came out of nowhere. It wasn’t something where you had time to think about,” he said. But as the season wore on, it became clear “that’s something that I didn’t think moving forward was going to be a positive.”

Adam was named an alternate captain at the conclusion of training camp, taking the spot in the leadership group that opened up when Blake Wheeler was stripped of the captaincy by new coach Rick Bowness.

“I think today you look at where (Adam) is this year. That doesn’t happen if I’m there,” said Lowry, who got back into a more normal routine with his son this past summer, including golfing together.

“I guess he didn’t hate me too much,” he added, with a laugh. “The one thing that I say, and I say it every day, I was extremely grateful for, No.1, the opportunity, but to work with the guys I got to work with. It was a tough spot, but there was really good people that I got to work with.”

Bowness ultimately got the job after Winnipeg’s top choice, Dauphin native Barry Trotz, turned it down. Scott Arniel was brought in as associate, while Brad Lauer (Edmonton Oil Kings) and Marty Johnston (Manitoba Moose) were added as assistants. Only goalie coach Wade Flaherty remained.

“I haven’t talked to (Bowness) since. It was probably the best thing. He gets to go in and he gets to form his own opinions on guys. That’s probably for the best,” said Lowry.

Maurice and former associate coach Jamie Kompon are now in Florida, while Lowry landed on his feet after spending the first couple of months of a longer-than-expected offseason contemplating his future. The veteran of more than 1,000 games played in the NHL, now 57-years-old, ultimately decided he didn’t want his Winnipeg experience to be his last.

“I felt just a little bit of time away really helped me clear my head, really helped my wrap it around that I think I’m too young to retire.”–Dave Lowry

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do to be perfectly honest. I felt just a little bit of time away really helped me clear my head, really helped me wrap it around that I think I’m too young to retire,” said Lowry, who called Seattle coach Dave Hakstol about an opening for an assistant.

“I don’t think I would have been a good person in and around my house if I was home all the time.”

Seattle is off to a surprisingly strong start, now 8-5-3 after Sunday’s 3-2 loss to Lowry’s old team, which have also come out flying with a 9-4-1 record.

Hakstol said Lowry has been a terrific addition for a young team that had a rough expansion debut last year.

“A veteran presence. A really good sharp hockey mind. Always clear and calm in every situation,” he said. “He’s fit in very, very well with our group. The presence and knowledge he brings has been very good for our staff.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg