New York Rangers: Former Blueshirts defenseman Kevin Lowe elected to HOF
By Ed Stein
Kevin Lowe was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Wednesday. He spent four of his 19 NHL seasons with the New York Rangers.
Wednesday, former New York Rangers defenseman Kevin Lowe was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Class of 2020. He played 19 NHL seasons and won six Stanley Cups. Most important to Blueshirts fans, Lowe was a member of the 1994 Championship team that brought the cup back to Madison Square Garden after 54 years.
An Edmonton Original
Lowe is best remembered as part of the Edmonton Oilers dynasty that won five cups from 1984-90. During those years, he often paired on the blue line with one of the most dynamic puck movers of all-time, Paul Coffey. While Coffey was charging up ice with the puck, Lowe was the man who got back on defense to clear the front of his net for goalie Grant Fuhr.
Of course, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, and Mark Messier led those Edmonton teams. Lowe held his own out there as the team’s shut down defender. During his first run with the Oil, which lasted 13 years, he eclipsed 30 points six times, including three with 40 or more. Additionally, he was a fantastic plus 244.
Welcome to Broadway
His move to the Rangers came in December 1992 when New York sent Roman Oksiuta and a third-round pick to get him. The Blueshirts had a good mix of veterans and youth at the time, but landing a player with his resume helped develop the team. Lowe’s biggest job, aside from holding down the second pairing, was to mentor 24-year-old, franchise defenseman Brian Leetch.
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By the 1993-94 season, Lowe’s skills were in decline. Rangers fans jokingly called him Kevin Slow because of the way he lumbered up and down the ice at times. Lowe alternated between the second pairing with fire on ice partner rookie Sergei Zubov and the bottom pair on most nights.
He held up well, appearing in 71 regular-season games and 22 of 23 during the postseason. When the Rangers skated the cup around the ice at a raucous MSG after winning Game 7 of the Finals, Lowe was the man who team captain Messier handed it to first. A salute to his significance on the team.
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After two more seasons with the Blueshirts, Lowe went back to Edmonton, at age 36, to finish his playing career. His selection to the Hall of Fame makes him the fifth member of the New York Rangers championship team to be voted in. He joins Messier, Leach, Zubov, and Glenn Anderson.