My generation as a whole has a different perspective on Kevin Lowe. I was only seven years old when Lowe retired from the NHL. I don't remember the savvy stay at home defender; the defensive conscious of the team. While Coffey was putting up 120+ point seasons, Kevin Lowe was putting up 30-40 point seasons but was still an integral part to those Cup winning teams.
Today, when most people hear the name Lowe, the first thing they think about is his press conference where he talked about the Stanley Cups that he had won several decades earlier and how "he knows a thing or two about winning." Or in that same memorable press conference where he described the fans in two tiers, effectively insulting those who weren't regularly buying tickets to games.
Kevin Lowe was President of Hockey Operations during a time when the Oilers were quite simply the joke of the NHL. The team began their rebuild when they drafted Taylor Hall and then again a few years later when they traded Horcoff and Hemsky and then again when they drafted Connor McDavid and then again when they fired Chiarelli. I'm probably missing a couple in there somewhere too. Even once Kevin Lowe was out of the hockey operations side of things and more on the business end, there were still large groups of fans clamoring to fire him when things were looking ugly here.
Perhaps the fact that the Oilers are now a good team and sit first in the Division with an 8-1-0 record which ties a franchise record for best start makes it easier to forget the bad about Kevin Lowe and perhaps it doesn't. The banner raising is to celebrate Kevin Lowe, the player, and all that he did for those Cup winning teams. He deserves it.
Back to the hockeys.
Tonight is likely the toughest game yet for the Edmonton Oilers. The Rangers sit second in the Metro Division with a 6-2-2 record. Some might argue beating the Flames who currently have a 6-1-3 is more impressive but when the Oilers faced the Flames they weren't playing like they are now. The only other Eastern team that Edmonton has faced are the Flyers who gave the Oil their first and only loss of the season. It goes without saying the Oilers don't want to fall to 0-2 against the East. Here are five things to watch for tonight.
1) The King Is Dead, Long Live The King: The transition from the king in net, Henrik Lunqvist to the new heir in Igor Shesterkin has been seamless. Through eight games so far, Shesterkin has a 0.943SV% and a 1.85GAA. The Oilers are a dominant offensive team but they are going up against a wall. This is a perfect example of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.
2) Yamo Rising: After failing to score in 39 games straight, Kailer Yamamoto has now put two goals in his last two games. The first, against Seattle involved some great hands and hockey IQ to beat Grubauer five-hole and the second was quickly jumping on a rebound into a wide open net. The second goal looked easy but it was the kind of opportunity Yamamoto simply wasn't finding himself in lately. Kailer Yamamoto playing with confidence and being in those kinds of situations could complete the Oilers top six where all players are firing on all cylinders.
3) Hart #2 For Draisaitl?: It's obviously way too early in the season to be talking about Hart Trophy selections but once again Leon Draisaitl is making his own case. After starting the season on McDavid's line, Leon is playing dominant hockey on his own line. He leads like league in points with 20 in 9 games and is second in the NHL with goals right behind Alex Ovechkin. I should note he likely would have been tied with Ovi had he no selflessly passed on an easy empty net goal to give Jesse Puljujarvi the marker. That potential goal for Drai by the way, would have been for a hat-trick too.
I love watching other guys score, it’s my favorite thing.
5) Olympian Mikko Koskinen: Smith remains out and so Koskinen will start tonight once again. This morning, Koskinen was asked about making Team Finland for the Olympics and he responded it would obviously mean so much to him to be selected. Right now there is a pretty solid argument for him to make the cut. Koskinen has started the season with a 6-1 record and a 0.934SV%. Mikko has better numbers right now than Juuse Saros (0.922SV% in 8 games), Korpisalo (0.905SV% in 4 games), or Lankinen (0.882SV% in 5 games). Personally I would still expect Saros to get the nod as the starter but for Koskinen to go from the year he had last season to being selected as the backup would be a huge comeback for the big man.
OILERS LINE COMBINATIONS Hyman-McDavid-Puljujarvi RNH-Draisaitl-Yamamoto Foegele-Shore-Kassian Perlini-Ryan-Turris
Nurse-Bouchard Keith-Ceci Koekkoek-Barrie
Koskinen
RANGERS LINE COMBINATIONS Goodrow-Zibanejad-Kreider Panarin-Strome-Kakko Hunt-Chytil-Blais Lafreniere-Rooney-McKegg
Lindgreen-Fox Miller-Trouba Tinordi-Nemeth
Shesterkin