There are not many honours in team sports bigger than being named captain.
That honour was given to Winnipeg Jet forward Adam Lowry officially Tuesday morning as he becomes the third captain in franchise history since the team moved here from Atlanta. He follows Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler who served as captain for five and six years respectively.
“When I found out, I was pretty excited, almost a little speechless. It’s something growing up you kind of can dream about and something that seems almost unattainable,” said Lowry.
“Getting to be a captain of a Canadian NHL team is pretty special and something I’m really looking forward too.”
Lowry has been a part of the Jets organization since June 25, 2011, when he was selected in the third round, 67th overall, after putting up 37 points in 36 games with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League during the 2010-11 season. After wrapping up his junior career in 2012-13, Lowry went onto play 73 games with the St. John’s IceCaps before making his NHL debut during the 2014-15 campaign. Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff was at the NHL Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota when Lowry became a Jet and was part of the group that decided Lowry would wear the “C”.
“As an organization we’ve had the pleasure of watching Adam develop from the day that he was the second player that we drafted back in 2011,” said Cheveldayoff.
“As a teammate, Adam has become one of the most respected players by his peers by how he plays the game on the ice and for all that he brings to the team off of it.”
The 30-year-old wore an “A” for the first time in 2022-23 along with Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele who will both serve as alternates for the team this year. The Jets didn’t have a captain last season as head coach Rick Bowness and his staff wanted more voices in the dressing room.
“It went well last year. Mark, Adam and Josh did a great job in the room which is what we wanted. We all know Adam is the first guy on the ice to stick up for his teammates,” said Bowness.
“He’s a true professional, he has total respect from every player on the team, every player around the league and certainly from the coaching staff as well. We just feel at this point it’s the right time to name Adam as our captain.”
Lowry has played 621 NHL games accumulating 93 goals, 111 assists for 204 points and adding 335 penalty minutes. He also has 44 career playoff games with nine goals and nine assists. Over his 10-year pro career, he has been able to take in a lot of lessons about leadership starting with his first pro season in St. John’s with Jason Jaffray.
“I remember I got to room with him (Jaffray) on the road and just learning the day-to-day stuff of how to take care of yourself and prepare. He’d stay late after practice and this was a guy who’d had a great career, he’d kind of accomplished so much already, he’s still putting in time before practice and after practice to work on his game and help others work on theirs,” said Lowry.
“Kind of moving forward looking at Andrew Ladd, how he played and how he took care of the guys. He was such an intense player and such an intense person. He was so caring; he’d make sure that everyone was doing ok. When it transitioned to Wheels (Blake Wheeler), he was such an intense player for us. He was such an integral part of so many years and so many parts of history in this franchise. I look at those guys, they all had different styles of how they led. I think when you put it all together, that inclusivity, making sure everyone feels they belong. That’s going to be really important, that team cohesiveness. I’ll try and take pieces from everyone.”
Jets associate coach Scott Arniel recently gave Lowry some advice to reach out to other players that have been captain of NHL teams for guidance. Of course, Lowry will have the benefit of having his father, Dave, who played over 1,000 games in the NHL and is currently an assistant coach with the Seattle Kraken. Dave was captain of another western Canadian team, the Calgary Flames as he wound down his NHL career in the early 2000’s.
“To kind of have my father having gone through that experience of having been a captain in a Canadian market and not necessarily be the superstar that’s leading the team. It’s more of a third- and fourth-line guy and you can still find value, lead a team, you can still bring a team together,” said Lowry.
“I’m going to give Jacob (Trouba) a call and learn from him, he’s captain of the Rangers and that’s a pretty big hockey market that he has to navigate. He’s done a tremendous job. There’s a lot of people that I’ll be able to reach out to for advice.”
