Like Father, Like Son

Call him a chip off the old block.
Right down to the grizzly, but impeccably tamed red mane, Adam Lowry is following in the footsteps of his father, "Jungle" Dave.
On Nov. 22, 2017, after years of wondering if the day would ever come, the pair went head-to-head during an NHL game for the very first time.
On the Winnipeg end, it was Adam - the fourth-year Jet trying to help his team get a win in the second of a four-game road trip. On the opposite side stood Dave - a longtime NHLer with more than 1,000 games to his name - who is now an assistant coach with the always tough Los Angeles Kings.
Dave, who was the prototypical third- or fourth-line power forward, is proud of the player - and man - Adam has grown into.
"I was a player that had to work every day and train hard in the summertime, and you're hopeful that you can instill that work ethic into your kids and they can use it later on in life.
"I'm very proud of everything he's accomplished."

Like father, like son.
Dave was last behind an NHL bench when he was an assistant on Brent Sutter's staff in Calgary from 2009 to 2012. For the last five years, he was the head coach of the WHL's Victoria Royals and immensely enjoyed the experience, but always wanted to get back to the big leagues.

The two squared off only once in WHL competition, and Dave's Royals scored a 2-1 win that Adam has clearly not forgotten about in the five years since.
"Obviously I'd like to come out on the right side this time," Adam laughed.
Clearly, bragging rights are back up for grabs.
"It was always his dream to get back in the NHL as a coach and it's nice to see him be able to accomplish that.
"It hasn't been too often [that we've seen each other] these last few years, especially with him coaching in the Western League. It was nice to see them and get a home-cooked meal. We talked about where my game is at and things like that, and how he's enjoying it down here. My mom and him are really enjoying LA, and where they're living, and all the activities that come with being in a nice climate."
Adam and Dave.
Father and son.
Together, in the NHL.
"It's pretty cool. Looking back after the game, it will have been a great experience. I didn't win the board game last night, so maybe he'll let us win the game tonight (Nov. 22)," Adam laughed.
"Everyone always asks: 'How often do you talk to your dad (about hockey) and do you guys always talk about the game?' Usually when things are going well he keeps his distance and doesn't talk much about hockey. If I'm struggling a little bit, he gives me little points of advice. There are things I do as a player that make me successful and sometimes you get out of that habit. We talk a bit about it, but it's not something that dominates our life."
In a career that took him to all four corners of the continent, Dave always made time for his kids.
"I saw how hard he worked and how much he sacrificed to make it to all our games," Adam said. "Some guys were sleeping in, but he was up at six to drive us to the rink even if he didn't get home (from a road trip) until 3:00am."
After 19 NHL seasons, Dave's career came to an end in Calgary after stops in Vancouver, St. Louis, Florida and San Jose before that.

Calgary, though - that was home.
It was there that Adam grew up, discovered his talents and became the person he is today.
Dad, too.
"He used to help out a lot in spring hockey. That was a lot easier once the (NHL) season was done," Adam said. "The lockout year, so 2004-05, that was my first year of pee-wee. He coached the Bow Valley Flames and I would have been 12 years old. We joked that that sort of kick-started his passion for coaching. It was awesome. That was the only time he coached my minor hockey team but I have a lot of fond memories from that year."
The athletic bloodlines run deep in the Lowry family. While Dave, Adam, his brother Joel - a former Kings draft pick - and his younger sister, Tessa, all gravitated toward hockey, Adam's older sister, Sarah, played NCAA and CIS volleyball at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and University of Western Ontario, while his mom, Elaine, is a former Ironman competitor with more than 20 marathons under her belt.
"We were a family that, we left it up to them," Dave said. "When they played their sports and they were done at the end of the season, we left it up to them to come to us when it was time to start training. They knew everybody else was starting to hit the gym at different times and guys were working to get better, but we always believed they had to play a different sport. They had to find a way to balance their time and their academics as well."

In his first season with the Swift Current Broncos, Adam scored 15 goals and 34 points in only 61 games and won the Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy as the WHL Scholastic Player of the Year, joining Josh Morrissey (Prince Albert), Nelson Nogier (Saskatoon) and General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff (Brandon) as the only Jets to receive the honour.
Still, it didn't take long for Adam to realize his true potential. While his confidence - and belief - never wavered, Dave knew just how fragile a junior player's career can be, and the toll it can take on a kid's life away from the rink.
It's a tough gig. In the prairies, where hours on end are spent making the nine-hour trek east to Brandon, the overnighters, doubleheaders, west-coast jaunts and back again, Dave didn't know was in store for his hockey-loving teenager.
"You look at the way his junior career progressed and when he got dropped off in Swift Current at 16, I wasn't really too sure about how things were going to end up," he said. "But, every year he kept getting better and better, and he was given a great chance to have success."
In his final year with the Broncos, Adam - 19 at the time - led the squad in goals (45) and points (88), leading them to their first WHL playoff appearance in three years.

From that point forward, he was well on his way. The path "Jungle" Dave forged for him some 27 years earlier had just opened up again.

Drafted by the Jets in 2011, he debuted for the club's American Hockey League affiliate, the St. John's IceCaps, after the Broncos' post-season exit, and the following year made an immediate impression on both his dad and the brass in Winnipeg as a full-time pro.
"He went into St. John's and had a really good first year (17 goals and 33 points in 64 games)," Dave said. "We all know that if you put the time in and are diligent in your preparation and the work that you're going to do, sometimes opportunity presents itself. He was given a really good opportunity as a second-year pro and took advantage of it.
"And look at him now."
Adam scored a big goal and left town with the bragging rights this time.
Jets 2. Kings 1.

"I couldn't ask for more," Adam said.
- Ryan Dittrick, WinnipegJets.com