Lowes goes from coach to friend

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This article was published 01/03/2016 (3555 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For Bob Lowes, his relationship with players changed the day they graduated from the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The second-winningest coach in Wheat Kings history, Lowes’ nine-year tenure lasted from 1992 until 2001. His players say he demanded a lot but universally applaud his efforts.

For his part, he has been happy to become friends with his former players and even serve as a reference on resumés.

“I think it should happen as soon as they leave the program,” Lowes said. “I think it changes the dynamic of your relationship. What makes me proudest is guys have used me on their resumés as references over the years. To be able to go to bat for them and talk about them and help them get employment is special.

“It changes the relationship because it’s easier to become friends right away. It’s hard because everyone moves on, but you really notice it when everybody gets together. You can talk on a different level and maybe say things that you couldn’t say before as player-coach to each other.”

Lowes keeps up with some of the guys on Facebook. He ran into Wade Redden a year ago and Dorian Anneck a few years ago.

“If you’re ever anywhere near somebody, you make a point of chatting with them,” Lowes said.

Regina became home after Lowes moved there to coach the Pats for three seasons from 2001 to 2004. He said that with his current job as the director of amateur scouting for the Ottawa Senators, Regina is fairly central and has an international airport, so it’s easy to get in and out.

The product of Prince Albert, Sask., became a scout after he parted ways with the Pats, taking a scouting job with the Wheat Kings before joining the Senators.

A gem he unearthed in Brandon has a prominent spot on his resumé. Lowes was a strong proponent for former Wheat Kings forward Mark Stone, who went on to earn a full-time spot in Ottawa last season and finished second in rookie of the year voting.

“We were sitting at the (draft) table and we wanted a bigger forward from the (Canadian Hockey League) and we were in the sixth round. I thought he fit the bill. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t think he would be as good as he is,” Lowes said with a chuckle. “When you’re picking in the sixth round, do you think you’re getting that good a player? I don’t think so but he’s been great.”

Lowes said you can’t sit in one spot as a scout, so he’s constantly travelling. He notes that as a coach, at least you have 36 home games. He guessed that he sees the Pats about five times a season.

He likens the dynamic of a scouting staff to that of a hockey team.

“You get to build something,” Lowes said. “The scouts are like a team in themselves, so to be on that team you have the same camaraderie as a coaching staff or a team. Starting with a group of players and whittling it down and picking a player, like for example a Mark Stone, and seeing how they play in the NHL is the best part of it.”

He will never mind a trip back to Brandon.

Lowes is especially close to Wheat Kings head coach, general manager and owner Kelly McCrimmon.

“I don’t think that there’s anybody who I talk to more about my career and myself,” Lowes said. “We all know what a tremendous hockey guy he is. He’s an even better friend.”

Lowes said he also has a close friendship with assistant coach Mark Johnston, with all of the tempestuousness of brothers when they worked together. But Lowes added that both understood that any disagreements weren’t personal and were quickly forgotten.

“He’s a good man,” Lowes said of Johnston, who now serves as Brandon’s head scout.

The link to the Wheat City is much deeper than just the hockey team for Lowes and his wife Shelley, who serves as the registered director of education for the province of Saskatchewan.

Their three children — Alycia, 21, Mikayla, 20 and Rob, 19 — were all born in Brandon and are now in university.

“We really feel an attachment to Brandon whenever we go back there,” Lowes said. “We have a lot of really good friends there that we made with hockey but away from hockey as well. It’s a special place.”

Another special place for Lowes is the rink, where he has spent his 27-year career in hockey.

Lowes admits that there are days when he misses coaching but said it’s an all-consuming profession.

It’s clear that he has a special fondness for the 1995-96 Brandon team that won the Western Hockey League championship.

“It was a special group,” Lowes said. “There have been a lot of good Wheat Kings teams since then, but nobody has done what we did.”

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