After many months of speculation, Bob Nicholson has finally hired a President of Hockey Operations for the Edmonton Oilers, and that person is Kevin Lowe.

Since relieving Peter Chiarelli of his duties at the end of January, the Oilers have gone without a legitimate POHO and General Manager. Keith Gretzky stepped up to be an interim General Manager and has done an admirable job. From Mike Gillis, to Bill Zeto, many names have popped up in the rumour mill about who the next POHO for the Oilers should be. Instead, Bob Nicholson has hired former Edmonton Oiler, Kevin Lowe.

Kevin Lowe was not my first choice to be President of Hockey Operations, but I’m cautiously optimistic of what Lowe has to offer. Here’s what Nicholson had to say about Lowe earlier this morning.

“Kevin knows a thing or two about winning. He’s had success when building a lot of Team Canada’s Olympic teams and has a lot left to give in his career.” – Bob Nicholson

Before this morning, Kevin Lowe occupied the seat as the Vice-Chairman of the Oilers Entertainment Group. Prior to that, Lowe was both the General Manager and Head Coach of the Edmonton Oilers. He has been a part of the organization for most of his career, so I understand why Nicholson thinks he is a fitting piece to be the President.

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Personally, I thought the Oilers were looking to get away from the ‘Old Boys Club’ and move onto a new era of hockey thinking. This does not appear to be the case now. Kevin Lowe’s first task will be to find an appropriate General Manager for the team that will lead this organization to the playoffs. Lowe has been in the industry for many years so I’m a firm believer that his contact list will be full of high-quality professionals.

Kevin definitely has a history of upsetting Oilers fans. The first occasion that comes to mind is separating us into tier one and tier two groups. However, we’re going to have to put those thoughts to the side for now. Years of Oilers staff claiming that Kevin Lowe is not making any hockey decisions for the team has officially come to an end, and Kevin Lowe now has a lot of weight on his shoulders. We have no choice now but to hope for the best, and wish him luck.

What are your thoughts on the hiring of Kevin Lowe as President of Hockey Ops? Let me know in the comments!

Kevin Lowe Career Playing Stats

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Did anyone fall for it? If you’ve reached this point and you still think this is real, check the date. Also, sorry for doing this every year but we kinda have to at this point.



