John Stevens and the Los Angeles Kings added Dave Lowry to their coaching staff as an assistant on Tuesday.
“Dave has a wealth of experience as both a player and a coach and we’re excited to have him join our team,” Stevens said. “He played over 1,000 games in the NHL and was a great teammate as a player. As a coach, he’s really detailed, he relates well with players and he is driven to win.”
After that run of 1,084 regular-season games (and 111 in the playoffs), Lowry began his coaching career with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen as an assistant. He then spent 2008-09 as the Hitmen’s head coach before becoming a Calgary Flames assistant from 2009-10 to 2011-12. Most recently, he’s been head coach of the Victoria Royals in the WHL, bringing them to the playoffs in every season from 2012-13 to 2016-17.
The Vancouver Canucks reportedly had interest in Lowry, too.
LA Kings Insider’s Jon Rosen also points out that Lowry was an inaugural member of the Florida Panthers, contributing heavily to their unlikely Stanley Cup Final run in 1995-96.
Rosen believes that the Kings may still add one more assistant to Stevens’ staff, with Ulf Samuelsson’s name coming up in more than one conversation.
Have heard more than once lately that Ulf Samuelsson is a strong candidate for an assistant coach job on staff of Kings coach John Stevens..
— Helene Elliott (@helenenothelen) May 29, 2017
Overall, it’s clear a new regime is forming in Los Angeles. It remains to be seen if a fleet of experienced former NHL players can get more out of aging core that may still have a few more runs in them.