Is Kevin Lowe Still Running the Oilers?

[oXo Cube]

Kevin Lowe wasn't a great GM but he was so much better than Pistol Pete I don't really understand how people can try to force this connection other than wishful thinking.

 

[HugginThePost]

I believe this is what’s called “straw grasping”!

But who can blame the Oil fans? I’d be looking for conspiracy theories as well to explain how after all these years of high drafts and tanks that they are still at the bottom of the league and hard up against the cap.

Tough place to be at the moment I’d imagine

 

[Walkingthroughforest]

No, Lowe's current role is not involved in the hockey operations

The only job Lowe has had for the past 20 years is in hockey operations. There’s a far greater chance that due to his power as second in command of the Oilers, he still controls hockey ops but doesn’t do so publicly because of the immense backlash due to his tenure.

Or he’s in charge of SEO or something. I’m sure that makes more sense.

 

[nbwingsfan]

If you paid attention to all of the moves Chiarelli made, especially later in his tenure with Boston then it's not surprising how bad hes been in Edmonton.

He made some truly baffling moves there

 

[Burke the Legend]

Kevin Lowe wasn't a great GM but he was so much better than Pistol Pete I don't really understand how people can try to force this connection other than wishful thinking.

Really? Wishful thinking? I don't think you get how toxic and political these kind of cliqueish situations can get. Katz no longer has a real business to run, all he does is his hockey empire. His best buddies who are former GMs still hang around his office at the new complex all day, and then all night on gameday. What exactly do you think they are talking about all these hours? Books? After all these brainstorming sessions they come up with some great idea, and Katz comes over to Chia's office the next day and says "hey Pete I think this would be a good idea", Chia might be able to talk him down but then it's going to come up again and then it becomes a thing where the ex-GM keeps circling back to it while he's sipping Chardonnay with Katz so if it then keeps coming back to Chia do you want to really get into a big fight with your boss over this? Some move him and his bros seem pretty set on. This is the guy who is paying you 1 percenter money to do a really sweet job.

Pretty toxic situation but if Chia leaves there's a good chance he'll never be pulling that kind of pay again, never be a NHL GM again especially with his reputation now pretty low and there's not exactly a lot of openings anyway. So he's kind of trapped, either embrace the Katz clique or be on the outside and eventually fired which seemed to be what happened in Boston when he didn't get along with Neely.

 

[oXo Cube]

Really? Wishful thinking? I don't think you get how toxic and political these kind of cliqueish situations can get. Katz no longer has a real business to run, all he does is his hockey empire. His best buddies who are former GMs still hang around his office at the new complex all day, and then all night on gameday. What exactly do you think they are talking about all these hours? Books? After all these brainstorming sessions they come up with some great idea, and Katz comes over to Chia's office the next day and says "hey Pete I think this would be a good idea", Chia might be able to talk him down but then it's going to come up again and then it becomes a thing where the ex-GM keeps circling back to it while he's sipping Chardonnay with Katz so if it then keeps coming back to Chia do you want to really get into a big fight with your boss over this? Some move him and his bros seem pretty set on. This is the guy who is paying you 1 percenter money to do a really sweet job.

Pretty toxic situation but if Chia leaves there's a good chance he'll never be pulling that kind of pay again, never be a NHL GM again especially with his reputation now pretty low and there's not exactly a lot of openings anyway. So he's kind of trapped, either embrace the Katz clique or be on the outside and eventually fired which seemed to be what happened in Boston when he didn't get along with Neely.

Well if you are right I sure wish Peter would listen instead of just repeating all the same mistakes he was already famous for making. Kevin Lowe's body of work suggests that the Oilers would be a lot better than they are right now if he was really the one calling the shots.

There is no grand conspiracy here. The Oilers are in the dumps because they hired a manager who horribly mismanaged all of the assets the team tanked for half a decade to acquire. That's it and that's all.

 

[Burke the Legend]

Well if you are right I sure wish Peter would listen instead of just repeating all the same mistakes he was already famous for making. Kevin Lowe's body of work suggests that the Oilers would be a lot better than they are right now if he was really the one calling the shots.

There is no grand conspiracy here. The Oilers are in the dumps because they hired a manager who horribly mismanaged all of the assets the team tanked for half a decade to acquire. That's it and that's all.

Well it's hard to say who is making any decision. It's all going to fall on Chia since he has the title but it's anyone's guess as to who in this brain trust came up with the bad idea of the day. Chia just wouldn't have much power to say no, he'd just be one more guy at the table weighing in (which is kind of how he looked in that infamous Seguin video).

 

[ThePhoenixx]

Well if you are right I sure wish Peter would listen instead of just repeating all the same mistakes he was already famous for making. Kevin Lowe's body of work suggests that the Oilers would be a lot better than they are right now if he was really the one calling the shots.

There is no grand conspiracy here. The Oilers are in the dumps because they hired a manager who horribly mismanaged all of the assets the team tanked for half a decade to acquire. That's it and that's all.

He admitted to never knowing who Reinhart was and had never seen him play.

So the Oilers traded for the Edmonton Junior legend who MacT and Lowe loved and were gushing about. Who do you think he was listening to when the trade was made?

Now he was the one who targeted Larsson.

 

[oXo Cube]

He admitted to never knowing who Reinhart was and had never seen him play.

So the Oilers traded for the Edmonton Junior legend who MacT and Lowe loved and were gushing about. Who do you think he was listening to when the trade was made?

Well first of all that absolutely isn't what he said at all. He said that he had not watched Reinhart since he was drafted. You might wonder why the guy who has the final say would agree to make a significant move for a prospect he hadn't seen play in over 2 years, but hey I wasn't in the room.

Secondly, the organization is on the record that it was director of player personnel Bob Green(a Nicholson hire) that stuck his neck out for Griffin and pushed hard for that trade. Not Kevin Lowe.

Lastly, even if MacT was screaming at the top of the lungs to make that move, so what? It wasn't his call, it was Chiarelli's. He takes the blame.

 

[Kranix]

You might wonder why the guy who has the final say would agree to make a significant move

Watch the Seguin trade video.

 

[oXo Cube]

Watch the Seguin trade video.

Oh don't worry I've seen it.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

Well first of all that absolutely isn't what he said at all. He said that he had not watched Reinhart since he was drafted. You might wonder why the guy who has the final say would agree to make a significant move for a prospect he hadn't seen play in over 2 years, but hey I wasn't in the room.

Secondly, the organization is on the record that it was director of player personnel Bob Green(a Nicholson hire) that stuck his neck out for Griffin and pushed hard for that trade. Not Kevin Lowe.

Lastly, even if MacT was screaming at the top of the lungs to make that move, so what? It wasn't his call, it was Chiarelli's. He takes the blame.

This post is a great example of the backfire effect.

 

[McDNicks17]

The "Oilers Entertainment Group" handles the business side.

That's why a title like "Vice Chair" seems so vague.

 

[Walkingthroughforest]

The "Oilers Entertainment Group" handles the business side.

That's why a title like "Vice Chair" seems so vague.

Right. Because Wayne Gretzky and Kevin Lowe have decades of experience in business development and corporate management. That’s why they have those titles.

 

[oXo Cube]

This post is a great example of the backfire effect.

Excellent response.

But hey the end result is the same. They can fire the entire front office tomorrow for all I care. The path to success starts with someone else making the decisions.

 

[ManofSteel55]

He admitted to never knowing who Reinhart was and had never seen him play.

So the Oilers traded for the Edmonton Junior legend who MacT and Lowe loved and were gushing about. Who do you think he was listening to when the trade was made?

Now he was the one who targeted Larsson.

He was listening to Bob Greene and Reinhart's former junior coach Derek Laxdal if I remember the rumours correctly.

Chiarelli's trades and weird overpay contracts feel far more like his final years in Boston than Lowe's time in Edmonton.

 

[McDNicks17]

Right. Because Wayne Gretzky and Kevin Lowe have decades of experience in business development and corporate management. That’s why they have those titles.

Do you not understand their positions?

They're both Vice Chairs. They share a seat on the OEG board of directors.

Lowe's Alternate Governor title allows him to go to Board of Governor type meetings in Katz's place.

They're just there to grow the OEG brand.

"Iconic Oilers captain and all-time hockey great, Gretzky works closely with the OEG team on the commercial side of the business to attract world-class sports and entertainment partnerships and events to Rogers Place, as well as supporting development initiatives in ICE District."

"Lowe has been instrumental in the renewed success of the team, both on and off the ice. In his role he continues to work towards and promote the growth and development of Oilers Entertainment Group in its many new business initiatives, as well as continue to work closely with OEG Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chair Bob Nicholson, on the growth of Oilers Entertainment Group."

 

[Seanaconda]

Kevin Lowe to tambs was seeming to try and build an identity of a smaller fast team while chia seems to prefer a big and slow team . Both executed poorly is what links them together

. Tbh Lowe was a decent enough gm back when the oilers where poor and had to ship out anyone that was about to get paid. Just didn't work well with more money . And tambs would never have traded hall because his signature move was doing basically nothing and hoping our prospects worked out

 

[CartographerNo611]

Chia Traded Seguin and Hall for scraps...

 

[Walkingthroughforest]

Do you not understand their positions?

They're both Vice Chairs. They share a seat on the OEG board of directors.

Lowe's Alternate Governor title allows him to go to Board of Governor type meetings in Katz's place.

They're just there to grow the OEG brand.

I can easily understand their job positions just by reading the descriptions from the website.

Gretzky
“Wayne Gretzky, 57, enters his third season as the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) Vice Chair with Kevin Lowe, after being named on October 12, 2016. In this role, Gretzky works closely with Daryl Katz, OEG CEO and Vice Chair Bob Nicholson and Vice Chair Kevin Lowe in all aspects of the organization, including business and hockey operations.

Iconic Oilers captain and all-time hockey great, Gretzky works closely with the OEG team on the commercial side of the business to attract world-class sports and entertainment partnerships and events to Rogers Place, as well as supporting development initiatives in ICE District. He is also a sounding board and resource for Oilers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Peter Chiarelli and team management to assist in key functions including player development, recruiting and mentorship.”

Lowe
“Kevin Lowe, 59, has just completed his fourth season as Vice Chair and Alternate Governor of Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG). Previously, Lowe served as the Oilers President of Hockey Operations for seven seasons and prior to that he spent eight seasons as the Oilers General Manager.
Lowe has been instrumental in the renewed success of the team, both on and off the ice. In his role he continues to work towards and promote the growth and development of Oilers Entertainment Group in its many new business initiatives, as well as continue to work closely with OEG Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chair Bob Nicholson, on the growth of Oilers Entertainment Group.”

These sound like a lot more than ceremonial titles.

 

[dahrougem2]

Some Bruins fans rip on Chai, but at a time he was an undisputed brilliant executive. l.

This is where I stopped reading.

Chiarelli has never been a brilliant executive. He was handed a Stanley Cup winner on a silver platter in Boston, and all he had to do was not **** it up.

Astonishingly, he was handed a team with almost as much promise here in 2015 and all he had to do was not **** it up. Well, looks like he decided to change it up this time around.

 

[Walkingthroughforest]

This is where I stopped reading.

Chiarelli has never been a brilliant executive. He was handed a Stanley Cup winner on a silver platter in Boston, and all he had to do was not **** it up.

Astonishingly, he was handed a team with almost as much promise here in 2015 and all he had to do was not **** it up. Well, looks like he decided to change it up this time around.

Let’s not rewrite history. Up until 2012 he was viewed as one of the best executives in the game.

 

[Seanaconda]

This is where I stopped reading.

Chiarelli has never been a brilliant executive. He was handed a Stanley Cup winner on a silver platter in Boston, and all he had to do was not **** it up.

Astonishingly, he was handed a team with almost as much promise here in 2015 and all he had to do was not **** it up. Well, looks like he decided to change it up this time around.

He almost did tho . The contracts he gives out took down Boston for a few years . But if you can credit him for chara then that doesn't matter for the bruins I guess

 

[dahrougem2]

Let’s not rewrite history. Up until 2012 he was viewed as one of the best executives in the game.

He was viewed as such because his team was winning, not because he was this genius that put together a Stanley Cup winner from scratch.

He was handed that Bruins team on a silver platter with pieces in place, and all he had to do was not **** it up. That's not rewriting history.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

Excellent response.

But hey the end result is the same. They can fire the entire front office tomorrow for all I care. The path to success starts with someone else making the decisions.

It is an appropriate response. You post was a template for it.

I've heard the same old song and dance from you and a few other posters for the past decade. It's always someone else's fault even when given conflicting evidence. Lowe, MacT, Howson, they all have their hands in there or they wouldn't have jobs but according to some they are always blameless.

Must be nice to just bring in the patsies every few years and never have to face the music.