Bob Lowes

Lowes was born January 21, 1963, in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.[1][2]

Lowes played the centreman position in hockey.[1][2][3] He played three seasons for the Prince Albert Raiders in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) from 1979 to 1982, and was the team's captain during the 1981–82 season.[4] Lowes and his team won both the Hanbidge Cup as SJHL champions, and the ANAVET Cup as the Saskatchewan–Manitoba champions all three seasons, lost in the 1980 Abbott Cup finals, but won the 1981 and 1982 Abbott Cup, and both the 1981 Centennial Cup and the 1982 Centennial Cup.[3][4] Lowes was eligible for the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, but was not chosen until a year later, being selected 204th overall by the New York Rangers in the tenth round of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft.[3] He began the 1982–83 WHL season with Prince Albert, then was traded to the Regina Pats later in the season.[3][4] Lowes served as captain of the Pats for the 1983–84 WHL season, in which his team lost in the seventh game of the President's Cup final.[5] In the next year, he took a year off from playing and served as the assistant coach for the Pats in the 1984–85 season.[1][6] During the season, he acted as an interim head coach while Bob Strumm served an eight-game suspension.[3]

Lowes was recruited by Wayne Fleming to playing university hockey, and join the Manitoba Bisons program.[4][7] He played parts of four seasons for the Bisons from 1985 to 1989.[7][8] He was the team captain for the 1986–87 season,[8] then became an assistant coach for the 1987–88 season due to an injury.[4][7] Lowes said that he learned about the use of statistical analysis, and new perspective on coaching hockey from Fleming.[7] Lowes graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1989, with a bachelor's degree in recreation.[7][8][9]

Lowes' first position as a head coach was with the Nipawin Hawks in the SJHL, for the 1989–90 and 1990–91 seasons.[6][8] In the 1989–90 season, his team finished second place in the north division, then won the SJHL's Hanbidge Cup in the playoffs.[7][10] The Hawks played the Portage Terriers, champions of Manitoba for the ANAVET Cup, winning the series four games to two.[7] Lowes' team advanced to the national championship, and placed third at the 1990 Centennial Cup.[11] In the 1990–91 season, Nipawin placed second place in the north division, and reached the second round of the playoffs.[12] Lowes returned to the Western Hockey League (WHL) in the 1991–92 WHL season, as an assistant coach for the Seattle Thunderbirds.[3][6]

Lowes began his scouting career with the Brandon Wheat Kings as the chief scout from 2005 to 2007.[6][8] He worked part-time as an amateur scout for the Ottawa Senators starting in 2006, then was hired full-time in 2008.[17] He was promoted to director of amateur scouting in August 2014, and was responsible for the scouting staff of Ottawa in preparation for each NHL Entry Draft.[17] Notable players drafted by Ottawa during his tenure as chief scout include Logan Brown, Thomas Chabot, Jared Cowen, Nick Foligno, Gabriel Gagne, Erik Karlsson, Curtis Lazar, Robin Lehner, Jakob Silfverberg, Mark Stone, Colin White, and Mika Zibanejad.[18][19][20]

Lowes was hired by the Vegas Golden Knights September 30, 2016,[18] to be the assistant director of player personnel under Vaughn Karpan.[20][21] Lowes and Karpan has both previously been part of the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Manitoba Bisons.[9][22] Lowes is one of five former Wheat Kings alumni to become executives for Vegas, including Karpan, Kelly McCrimmon, Mike Kelly, and his former player Ryan Craig.[23] Lowes later won the Stanley Cup with Vegas in 2023.[24]

Lowes received the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as the WHL Coach of the Year, in the 1995–96, and 2001–02 seasons.[3][25] He was also given the CHL Coach of the Year Award in the same seasons, becoming the first multiple winner of the award.[7][15][26] Lowes was inducted into the Manitoba Bisons Hockey Hall of Fame on January 31, 2018.[4][7]