DAVE LOWRY | Ice Guardians Ep 35

Kelly Chase and Brett Hull are talking with Calgary Flames assistant coach and former teammate Dave Lowry this week. Chaser talks to Pie about some of his favorite pranks he pulled or witnessed during his playing days and they guys talk about their time together in St. Louis. Pie tells the Hully and Chaser how he got his start and coaching and about some of his stops along the way. Hully and Pie talk about some of the qualities of a great coach and Chaser shares his idea to solve the problem with NHL TV broadcasts. Hully asks Pie what it's like watching his son play in the NHL and the guys close the show talking about what's next for Pie and the recent Puck Cancer event.

Ice Guardians, presented by Siteman Cancer Center, comes to you from the Window World Studios.

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Transcript

0:31

Welcome back to the Ice Guardians Podcast with my partner in crime, Kelly Chase, and our good friend and old teammate, Dave Lowry, also known as Pi, from the Window World Studios, brought to you by Saman Seitman's Cancer Center. Pai, welcome. Thanks for being with us. Great to be here, fellas. Hi, I I gotta tell you, man. I'm I'm I was looking just uh at uh some of your uh achievements and stuff. You've had a hell of a road, buddy. You you've done some unbelievable things. And I remember and I thought you I I don't know why, I thought you were a first round pick, okay? And the reason is you fooled. Well, no, but you but but listen, you transformed yourself into into like you you morphed about three times into different roles. And it's pretty incredible because we you you know you grew you grew up out what Sudbury? I was born there, yeah. Predominantly grew up in Ottawa. Ottawa. Yeah, the PN Raiders. Okay, so so then you go to junior, you score 60 goals in 61 games. Junior must have been easy. And then goal goalies never went down. But but I mean the the crazy thing about it is is that you like your 10 what 60 pick, 160? Something like that. And you and you and you and you get to pro and you gotta become a checker again. That's that's uh I mean, because because you came to us after Vancouver and and you were like you you had no plans of staying in Peoria. No, no, and and the best part of that whole thing is right, like you you come into the National Hockey League, you're a scorer and junior. And everybody wants to be a scorer and junior. The unfortunate thing is I was playing on a last place team and I wasn't gonna get an opportunity to score, so I had to figure out how could I how could I get into the lineup every night, right? And it was, you know, you have to make you have to make a decision. Do you want to play in the National Hockey League? Do you want to be a tweener or do you want to be a guy that's in the minors? And I just felt that uh the best way that I could become an everyday NHL player was to, you know, have an identity as a hard guy to play against, kill penalties, and maybe be physical every once in a while. Well, I mean, you're not the only one either, Pi. I mean, uh Gee Carbonot, uh, didn't he get some incredible number of goals at uh Shakutami? And uh when when he got to uh Montreal and was drafted by the Canadians, uh he said the you know, he told me the only way I was ever gonna play is if if I learned to play uh solid defense, block shots, kill penalties, and and uh you know that he became one of the best uh defensive forwards in the the game's ever seen. Right. And he did it in an organization where he had an opportunity to win and to learn from the best guys, and then he got to carry it on, and you know, his legacy is always you always associate Geek Carbon on the Selkie. Yeah, I can agree with that. And you know with our time in St. Louis, we I thought we were really good for a few years, and uh you know, I'll go to my grave saying this, that I think it was ownership and management that held us from winning. And I don't know if anyone else agrees with me on that or not, but I I would say I would say it's not ownership. Ownership was great. They let us they allowed us to I mean if you look at Mr. Shanahan, I mean he went out and and made changes like to piss off the other owners in the league, basically. Whereas, you know, I think the reason they say ownership is because they're in charge of the GM. You know, us as players coaches, we have no say over the GM. Right? And so they they allowed the decisions that were made to be made. Yeah, no, and all I know, all I know in that is is that I left when I thought we had a real opportunity to win. Yeah, that was a hell we had some great Jesus, we had some good players. Holy well, and you know, I I said it on one of our last podcasts, Chaser, um with Brian Scrudlin. And I talked about him Carbonot and Keene being a key to us winning the cup in '99 in Dallas. And the the Scud missile line with with Pai, Richie Sutter, and Bobby Basson, to me was the best offensive uh checking line in the league. But they they actually put up points as well, and that's that was their, you know, and and back in that era, every night there was another line that they had to play against, whether it's Iserman or Madono or Gilmore. Uh I mean, it was just every single night they had uh an unbelievable job to do, and they were fantastic at it. And once again, right, it's just understanding who you're gonna be as a player. And and I remember we played Detroit. I was playing with you and and Otsy, and it was uh first game of the playoffs. I think we got we might have got beat. I think they might have got nine. They they beat us quite handily, and that was the end of my uh debut with uh playing with you guys. And I went back and played with Richie and Bass, and and that was our responsibility was you know, we had uh Eisman and Galant. Right. I mean that and they were with Proby. Yeah, right. You know, we Chaser and I, you know, doing these podcasts, by we've uh uh unveiled some great old YouTube videos, and uh I remember you were you were out there and uh God I can't remember who it was, but I know that you had Proby. Uh because it was me and Bassett had Proby. I mean it was it was a line brawl against the Red Wings, and it was uh, you know, those were the good old days with the NHL. Well, what do you remember? Good old days for you against those guys. I wouldn't have said that. Right. What do you remember about that? Well, hey, I remember who started it. The race was on. Okay, and the next thing I know, it's me and Bass with Proby. And like I start throwing punches, and Bass was going, What are you doing? I said, I gotta get these in now while I can. Because I know, I know at one point in time he's gonna be a free man, and if it's not tonight, he's coming again. So we might as well get some legs in, right? We might as we might as well take advantage of some shots. And I think that he might have said uh hello to you on the way by Chaser. You know what happened was is uh I've said this before, Patty, Patty Depuzzo had a hold of me. I think it was Pat Dipuzo who had a hold of me that I said, I said, Patty, you gotta let me go because here comes the big fella. And he I he had a hold of my arms, and I said, Patty, get let go of me. He goes, What? I go, here comes the big guy. And that that's when he came by me to tell me that I was going to be next. And I took a swipe at him. And then when as soon as I took a swipe at him, he went upside down, and that is exactly when you guys ended up having to be in the middle of a of a storm. And and I was I remember watching the tape of it. I think it was Hedy. Uh uh Kujo and Chevelde went at it too, right? Zombo. Oh, yeah, they do. Zombo. And then Chevelay. Kenny Wilson. Chevy came down. I remember Tyler's That was his first mistake. Yeah, Kujo beat the hell out of him. And I remember going off the ice, and Chevy was holding his eye, and he's all swollen. He's holding his eye, and I I went over and I said, uh, I was just going off the ice and he was yelling at me, you idiot, you start all this shit all the time, and he's going on and on. I said, You're an embarrassment to the Saskatoon blade and alumni. That's embarrassing. He took his alumni card away right there, right? Oh man, his eyes and he was pissed off at me, and I was laughing. It was it was good. It was good. It was one of those ones where you kind of chuckle about it, and uh I had a laugh. Hi, you were the king of pranksters, too. Yeah. Hey, listen, listen, I enjoyed watching guys be pranked, and I had nothing to do with those shoes being nailed to the wall. Hey, there's someone put numbers, someone put uh size nine and a half on a pair of shoes you were wearing. The next day there's a pair of shoes with the toes cut off and they're nailed to the wall. And hey, you know what? I will still come to this day. That wasn't me. I think I enjoyed watching them be done. I might have got the wrong guy back, but sitting there chuckling away. I was like, that sucker. But hey, you know what? I I always and I and I watched it in Florida. I like to sit back, I like to watch it from afar. You know, every once in a while poke in or uh prod here or whatever, right? And you know, next thing you know, a guy's pants are getting sewn pockets or sewing shut with the wallets in and all that. But you used to be able to do that now, right? Now you can't. Oh no, because everyone has feelings now. Right. The feelings please come out. And speaking of which, how uh uh as stepping to the coaching aspect of the game, uh these kids have to be a lot different than we were. Is that not the case? Oh, 100%. But you know what? It's it's like our kids, right? Like it's you ch my my philosophy has always been, you know, you communicate with them, you treat them like they're your own kids. And if you're gonna let your kids get away with it, then you're gonna let these guys get away with it. If you're gonna hold your kids accountable, why can't you hold the players accountable today, right? And and uh yeah, you have to gone are the days where you walk by and you punch a guy in the arm to get him going. And you know, we always had the fear of that. And yeah, well, Brian behind the bank, right? God he'd hit you more when you were playing good than when you were playing bad. Right. You had two things to worry about on a Saturday on a game day, right? You had the prof walking around that could corner you for an hour, and you had Brian walking around that was gonna drill both shoulders, right? Right. I think I'm just gonna sit in my stall and avoid it all. Right? Oh God. That was fun though. I I gotta tell you, I I loved playing for Brian Sutter. I he just, you know, that he was just as honest as the day was long. You know, you'd he if you played good, he told you you played good. If you stunk, he'd tell you you stunk. And you know, uh I really enjoyed it. He scared the shit out of me. Like, I I I remember just I remember cutting a stick off one time and bring the ribs and I looked. And well, it was before it must have been just before he got rid of the Wayne Babbage's, and I looked all Brian there, and I'm like, oh, he goes, lad, you watch that Dave Brown tonight, he's all left. I'm looking, Dave Brown, I ain't going near damn much. I'm terrified. That's not my that's not my guy. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You got it all messed up here, Sudzy. But he he, you know, and he didn't ask you to do anything he wouldn't do. Like, you know, he so he scared the shit out of me. I don't know about you guys, but that guy barked the bo over. I remember I beat up Dwayne and I don't know if it was the playoffs or whatever. I I got into a fight with Dwayne, I ran, I ran Eddie Balfour. He goes down. Dwayne jumps me. I get up, give it to Dwayne pretty good. They get a two minute, they get an extra two minutes. I'm in the penalty, I get out of the penalty box first. So when his is served or whatever, he's coming across the ice and he's just looking at me and he's just yelling at me. You're gonna get it. This I'm gonna. I go, shut your mouth. I go, you must be fucking adopted. You're not even talking. We had the other two stars on the uh Brian and uh I mean uh Richie and Ronnie, and we had Brian coaching, and Brian kicked me in the ribs from the back of the pitch, told me to shut my mouth, shut your mouth, shut your mouth and get in the game. And I'm like, get in the game, I'm in the fucking game. I'm yelling at your brother. What did he think? Get in the game. But I shut my mouth real quick because I was scared shitless of him. Yeah, but he was laughing his balls all yeah, he was. That was one of the best lines ever. You must be adopted. Was that was that the same night that the w uh dog was waiting at the uh hotel when we showed up in the bus? I don't remember that. No we showed up in the no, it was dog. Remember, it was uh we the back the back uh door at the Drake. Dog was standing in the hallway waiting for us when we got off the bus. And Brian's just telling him to beat. Where the bus always dropped you off. Wait a second, Brian and him, Brian, oh, he was waiting to get into it with us, or he wasn't no, he was waiting to see Brian, and Brian's like, get out of here. Like, get out of here, beat it. Right? I I think it might have even been that night. Is that the same night that uh Van Dorp was went after Chaser and the Where all the wives and hey, see the common denominator, right? Everybody's going after Chaser, right? Hey, I didn't do it. It wasn't me. Yeah. It wasn't me. It wasn't me, hey? Hey, what's one of the best pranks that you saw played on somebody? Because of course it wasn't you. Yeah, no, I you know what uh I I I actually liked the the shoes, but I was I was always one guy because I didn't make a lot of money, so I couldn't afford to uh be replacing clothing, right? Well Jeff Courtney would tell me stories. Who was the shoes? What are you talking about? You're talking about the numbers on the back of the shoes. Oh, the bowling shoes. The bowling shoes, the nine and a half. And then the next then the next day or two days later, there was the one they were nailed to the wall. Yeah. Well, I remember nailing them to the wall. Well, uh, and I probably will say this, Sean Burr. We're in uh we're in San Jose, and he's driving this, and and Bersey used to get at it with everybody. And we had to, we always parked across the street in uh San Jose. There was a parking lot across the street, so we came out another door, and there's piles of popcorn. His car was filled right through the sunroof with popcorn. So I I think that that would be pretty good. I'd be right up there. Yeah, you did well there, Pi. Chris Nylon put a fish under John Van Beesbrooke's back seat. And they could he couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from, right? And this rotting fish in the heat. Oh god, couldn't even imagine. No, that wouldn't be good. Uh uh. I remember uh Kortz and uh uh and Bergey taking Rudy Postchuk's keys and just touching them on the skate sharpener every day. He had this new car that he was so proud of, and one day it just wouldn't start. Those idiots, they just kept he'd get you know another set of keys and they just touched them on the thing. He kept pissing them off and pissing them off, and so pretty soon, you know, they they thought, oh, we gotta do something different. And they put the thing up on a block, so the back axle just went up just high enough so the tires weren't touching the ground. Rudy get in and put in gear, vroom boom, it wouldn't go anywhere. And uh these guys were relentless on Rudy. Yeah, they they were those two guys were unreal. Every time you you'd sit there, you'd be pouring a cup of coffee, there'd be nine holes in the coffee cup. Standing there, and there's shit coming at you and going the other direction, and idiots. It was always something, but the guy that knows all the pranks. Exactly. Five. 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Nineteen years. Yeah. That's a hell of a good career. That's a hell of a career. And you went from being like a checker to leading the team. I I didn't you lead the team in points and goals or something in the playoffs in Florida? Yeah. That's pretty impressive, buddy. That's pretty impressive. One ball a night, that team. We didn't have a lot of guys that could score. Hey, we didn't have a lot of guys that could score. But I will say this. You know what? Like that team, surprisingly, could skate. Right? And that was the the 95 year was the big year, the big crackdown on obstruction. And the whole thing was to get rid of the Florida Panthers. Because the first two years we'd missed the playoffs by a point. And it was the last last game of the regular season. And the whole mandate was we got to get rid of these guys. And everyone's talking about how we clutch and grab checked and like couldn't play hockey. Well, as soon as they put in and implemented all these obstruction rules, at Christmas time, we're in first place. Doug McLean gets to go to the All-Star game, they're like, oh shit, maybe this helped these guys, right? Like, believe it or not, we could actually skate, we could actually play hockey, and uh, you know, we surprised a lot of people. Yeah, like yeah, Garpinloff, remember they get the Red Wings and Oh, yeah. Steve Barnes, Ray Shep, like Ray Shepard was elite. Like a guy with a set of hands, and yeah, yeah, yeah. What a guy too, Ray was. Um unbelievable. Right. Unbelievable, right? And I'll tell you what, you know, you guys could have won it all, but that that avalanche team was really good. Yeah, it was that um, you know what, what really cost us a shot at winning the cup was uh Mary O'Trome by leaving Patrick in for all nine goals. Right because that's the year that uh he he was in for nine, and he came, he said, I played my last game, he ends up in Colorado, and that was the difference, right? Like, and hey, like let's let's be real, they had some really good players, and we had a really good run, and it it caught up with us. Well it catches up with you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I mean you guys had though was incredible. I mean Yeah, the the rat thing was awesome. I mean the whole deal. You know, I I I'm not gonna be afraid to say that uh that may have really turned the corner for the NHL, bringing that popularity back. Because I I'm pretty sure that the NHL is is as popular now as ever, and maybe more popular than a couple of those other sports people take for granted. Right, and but it was what it was was that uh everybody was involved, right? The fan the fans really got into it, and once again, right, we scored a goal against Patrick, and the ice is just covered, and he went in in between periods and said, That's the last time they score, and it was right, we didn't score another goal. Right. That's unbelievable. And and and you just if you were just a passive fan, you would look at it and go, Well, how the hell are they doing that? They just got these average guys, but it wasn't that. It was like you said, all of a sudden you got a bunch of guys that can that can play, they can skate, they can, and I think the average fan doesn't realize just how how hard it is to play. Like I I laugh about this all the time because I went home and played senior hockey during a lockout. I played like seven games, had like 40 points, and I was just laughing. And every time someone would go, Jesus. I mean, I thought you could just fight. Like, I just thought you could and you're like, Do you know how hard it is to get to that freaking level? Never mind, you know, and then you'd see the you'd see your team morph into what it did in the playoffs, and you realize it's pretty hard, and these guys are pretty damn good. But like you said, it you took the handcuffs off you guys and they found out you guys were a hell of a lot better than they thought you were. Yeah, it's amazing. It's amazing the the blinders that management has, and they pigeonhole players, and then all of a sudden you look at like what happened with Vegas. You know, we're just gonna leave these guys unprotected, they're no good, you know, and they get picked up by a game, Vegas. Uh they build a team around them, and all of a sudden they're in the Stanley Cup finals against Washington, their first year. And so, you know, you just the ability to see talent is, I think, back in the NHL, where before they would just pigeonhole you, and you know, he's a checker, he's a minor leaguer, and you you you never get a chance. And now they see after after the expansion drafts and and whatnot that there's players out there that are better than you think they are. And and the league has a huge mandate on on scoring, right? And and all these young guys, you look at them how skilled they are coming into the game today, right? And and probably the biggest knock on a lot of these guys is they're super skilled, but they don't know where to go on the ice. Right. Right? Like they had the hockey sense now sometimes is in question. But if you can get somebody that will allow these guys to go play, use their creativity, and if you put in certain guidelines, certain parameters that they have to play within, they can be really good players, right? You allow them their creativity, but when they don't have the puck, now you have to work to get it back, right? And that's that's the kind of the deal that you have to make with them. Well, and you know, I watch the games and I'm like, and you as a coach, I don't know if you shake your head or you just want to kill them, but you know, when I was playing in in Dallas, it was like if if we gave it away as much as they do now in the middle of the ice, Ken Hitchcock would would have a conniption shit. Like I've never seen turnovers like they they do today. And I don't know if that's just because you you guys give them the the free reign to be creative or not, but you know, it's Stanley Cup playoffs, and we're down to the the final four teams, and you know, they're just giving the puck away like it's like it's nothing. And and that's you know, that's the one like Carolina, they they do have a plan, they do put pucks in, but they they still are guilty of trying to make plays as well, right? And and that is that's the athlete, that's the player today, is they they everything it's they always think they can make something out of it. They can always turn some right, like they they can always what I think Toronto's biggest problem is like they give the puck away more at their blue line than any team I've ever seen in my life. Yeah, and you look at uh and right now the teams that are winning are the teams that are turning it over the least. Right. Right, yeah, and and goaltending's been outstanding too, and yeah, they've been able to bail some of these guys out. Been crazy the goaltending you've seen. Those kids have been unreal. Yeah, but I will say this, right? Like he he's a guy that would drive you crazy. Well, he did you know when he lived with us in in St. Louis for a year, played midget with my sons and living. Oh, is that right? Yeah. And you were the guy that was you you were the guy that was telling them when they're they're set up in behind the net to you know stand up and trying to get in the somebody, yeah. Get in the guy's face. It's starting to make sense now. It's all coming to you now. Hey, it's all coming to you now, huh? It is, yeah, I got it. Hey, let's take a break, and we'll be back with more ice guardians and Dave Pie Lowry right after this short break. Now it's time for your get-chuck moment of the game. And today we're talking about prostate cancer. Did you know that besides skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men, but it's very treatable, especially with early detection. Please speak to your primary physician about knowing when to get your PSA test done. A simple blood test could save your life. Typically, it's recommended you get the first test done around the age of 50. But if your family has a history of other factors, you may opt to get it done as early as your 40s. It's a simple blood test, and that's it. And if you're in Missouri or the Illinois area, you can go to get screennow.com or you type in your zip code and find a screening location near you. Or you visit sitman.washu.edu. Oh, you are a legend on the ice, but you're no legend in a repair shop. You're right, Chaser. I couldn't fix a car if it came with a playbook. That's why you got Car Shield. When your car breaks down, they help and handle all the expensive repairs. Yep. My first call is Car Shield, and boom, covered. No huge repair bills, no stress. So you can save the game face for the golf course. Exactly. Coverage varies by plan view, contracts, exclusions at Carshield.com. Wow. Nice hustle. The only time I get to see that much drive is when I feed my dog. Nugget loves every flavor of Diamond Naturals adult formula. Every time I fill her bowl, it's like a breakaway. I think she loves Diamond Naturals almost as much as she loves the blues. They both come from Missouri. Maybe it's local pride. All I do know is to step away from the ball, come feeding time, because she'll rough you up if you get in the way. Welcome back into the Window World Studios. I'm here with my good buddy Bret Hall, my good friend and former teammate Dave Lowry, statement cancer uh center studios, and and uh I would uh underscore the fact if you want to talk about a guy that loves the game and has a spirit for the game, uh you can't leave this guy out because Dave Lowry has put in his years in the National Hockey League and then every league from the Western Hockey League up. And uh Pai, could we talk just a little bit about your coaching? Because man, you have hit some you've had uh spots that yeah, that beautiful round that Elaine has been uh super wife. Oh, she has, right? And if you ask, if you ask, if you ask Adam where coaching got started, it was a lockout in 04, and I was coaching the P We One team. And that's where you gotta start somewhere, right? And that's where it started, right? And that's uh you know, when you start we started working with kids, and then uh the lockout came and it ended. And I got an opportunity to uh to work with Calgary Hitman for four years, and the best part of that was that uh you know we didn't have to move. We had uh just retired from playing with the flames, and uh it was gonna give me an opportunity to really see if that was something that I wanted to do. And you know, they spent four years with Calgary, two as an assistant, one as associate, one as a head. Then I got an opportunity to go uh work with uh Brent Sutter with Calgary Flames, and I spent three years there, and the one thing that uh that I do uh remember extremely clear is when I took the job with the Flames, I said to Elaine, I said, the one thing that we've done now is we've guaranteed ourselves a move because you're not gonna last forever in one spot. And you know, we were uh Brent, I worked with Brett for three years in Calgary, went to Victoria for five years, and got an opportunity to go work in LA uh for a couple years, and then I took Elaine from LA to Brandon, Manitoba for a winter. And oh yeah, that's love, right? That's what we say. And then uh then we had an opportunity. Uh I got a phone call, just I got a phone call out of the blue. I was in uh I was in Brandon with with my staff, COVID, the league was shut down, and and we're getting ready to reconvene. And I get a phone call from Adam out of the blue. And uh I just happened to be in Brandon a couple hours, and he says to me, he goes, uh, would you have any interest in in coming to work in Winnipeg? I'm like, what are you talking about? He goes, Yeah, Mo asked me, like Paul Maurice asked me, he said, uh, you know, call your dad's and gauge his interest. They were looking to add somebody, and and uh I said, you know, tell him to give me a call. So I I talked to Mo and I I rip up to Brandon, but I put together a presentation, right? Like put together, you know, kind of a little presentation on what he was looking for, and and I meet him at his house and and uh we're sitting there and we're talking, we're talking for a couple hours, and I and I said, I finally said to him, I said, Hey, I have some video here if you you know you want to look at uh what I can do and where I can help. And he goes, Listen, this isn't about video. He says, I have to just check and see if I can actually work with you, if we are compatible or whatever, right? And and that that that to me just kind of resonated where that that really is coaching. Is it's not so much the X's and O's, we're all the same with X's and O's. It's really all about uh the relationship and can you work with somebody and and how you can uh work in a group. And he's like very uh how do you I don't want to say underappreciated or understated, but he's had one hell of a uh coaching career himself, and uh to be able to work under him's gotta be nice on that resume. You know, it was it was fantastic, and uh, and I will tell you this the best motivator, like he goes in before a game, and every night it's different, and it's elite. And like I there's a lot of nights where I'm like I'm thinking, you know what, I'm looking at Charlie Hunter and going, hey, let's go, we're going to play, right? Like that's that's how good he was, right? And and you get super excited, hey? Oh, he's elite. And uh he was unreal, he was awesome. Like he he was awesome, and you could just tell he was gonna be great as a coach because he would pull you in and say things, you know, like, hey, just so you know, I'm the head coach, so if you want to let me in on the secret that you and Grimms have got planned between the two of you tonight for Barnaby, like just let me know too, right? So I can kind of get staged for what the fuck is gonna go on after, like and he was laughing about it, right? But it was it was just how he how he managed us, and it was great. Like, I I really I I freaking loved Mo. Yeah, yeah, there's you you get those coaches that are they're not only kind of brilliant as X's and O guys and strategies, but the way they can communicate with the players and and uh you know again, it's it's it's building it's building the relationship, right? Right, and then like it's Hitchcock was an unreal strategic guy, X's and O's, unreal. But he was the worst human being at being able to you know relate with the players. You know, he's the worst human being, he's a good human being. Oh no, he was the worst human being at being able to communicate with the players. He was a bad communicator, yeah. He was an awesome guy. I love Ken, but yeah, he was a helpful, too. I I look at I look at Marty Saint-Louis right now, like very, very limited coaching experience when he came in, right? The one thing that he said to his guys was, you know what, we're gonna allow you to go and play. We're gonna have no structure, we're gonna have no, you're gonna go play hockey. He now has uh detail, you know, he there are now expectations, but he's built that relationship with all these players, right? And it's based on it's based on trust and living and being and being true to your word. And you you watch his press conferences now, post-game, win or lose, right? It's always extremely positive and it's always getting ready for the next day. Right. And that's that's where the that's where the successful coaches are today. I had I had dinner with Brad Richards down in Florida uh a few weeks ago. And uh I have never met Marty St. Louis, but I'm very impressed with what he's doing there in Montreal. And I I asked Brad, I said, hey, you know, I've never met you know uh Marty. And he goes, he goes, Holly, best. He just that's all he said. He goes, he's the best. And you know, coming from Brad Richards, that's pretty high praise. Right. And you and you look how hard his players play. Right? And they do. Right. And and they they're willing to go through the wall for him. And that is, you know, that's the relationship, and that's the trust that he's built with these guys. Well, and you know, Stefan uh Robidah, right, assistant coach, he's another guy that you know, he's just heart and soul of a guy, too. And so so is the uh the other guy, Trevor Litowski. Another salt of the earth guy, right? Where I don't know him at all, but they they've got uh I believe they got world-class individuals that uh that are working working with that group. Yeah, that's what I always said. If you're French and you can coach, there's always going to be one job available. Right? And and and look at look at how that city, right? How it just you you look at the building, you look at you know the excitement, and right? It's great for the game. I agree 100%. I think the game's except for TV, I think the the game's in great spot. I think those they need to do something. I know exactly what they need to do, and I'm gonna tell you right after this break, we'll be back in ice starties with Dave Pie Lowry right after this. I'm Brad Hall. I'm Kelly Chase. His whole career was checking everything that moved. Yeah, well, I'm still checking for cancer. Regular cancer screenings are an important way to take control of your health. Studeman Cancer Center will help you get started. Visit get screennow.com. Preventative screenings are one of the best ways to detect cancer early when it's easiest to treat. You ever check anyone? Too busy scoring. On the ice, the enforcer protects the team. At home, you need something that protects your house as well. That's why St. Louis Trusts Window World, replacement windows, doors, and siding. Locally owned and operated since 2003. They've installed windows in nearly 80,000 homes. Their windows come standard with double straight glass, a lifetime warranty, including breakage. Listen, 60% of the appointments 2025 came from previous customers' referrals, and because people know that they deliver. Right now, get 0% APR for 36 months. Call 800 Get Windows for details about credit cost and terms. For new accounts, the APR for purchase is 29.99%, subject to credit approval. I got it. Let's go. I could have scored 86 an air in the puck. Our town, our team, our builder. The Brighton Sun homes are everywhere you want to live. Score big at Hippos Dispensaries with locations in Chesterfield, Columbia, and Springfield. Daily deals that keep your wallet in the game, top cannabis brands you know and trust, and bud tenders who feel like teammates. Hippos, your home rink for cannabis in Missouri. Welcome back. Dave Lowry, Kelly Chase, Bret Hall, Ice Guardians from the Window World Studios, brought to you by Sightwind Cancer Center. Hi. Mr. Chase wants to divulge into I know what we need in the league. I'm telling you. This podcast should be Live streaming during the game and the game going on while it is. If you look at Utah, what they're doing with that Nash uh cast, that's exactly what should be going on in every city. You should be you should be able to listen to these stories and watch the game. And if you want to have viewers, I'm telling you right now, we would be putting the play-by-play and colored guys right out of business. You shouldn't me like I love look, my one of my best buddies is Chris Kerber. Okay, Kerber by Tally. If Holly was doing this show while the game was going on and they could watch the game and listen to Holly, those guys on TV'd be out of business. And it and I'm telling you, you want to talk about gain viewers, you'd be gaining viewers, they'd be because we know we already know what the views are and and the impressions that you get from these podcasts. We we already know it. We we look at the numbers and the algorithms. So, like, what the what the hell are we doing with like it's it's simple, and this Ryan Smith in Utah, he knows what he's talking about. He's the one that's implemented this thing and said, here, it's open live stream, he's doing both. Nash's numbers are higher than the guys that are on TV, old Chuck and whoever the gal is. So, like, what the hell are you doing it everywhere? Right there, whoever the gal is. Well, yeah, I don't even know what the hell their names are. But but but like, why the hell aren't we doing it everywhere then? The problem with me in that is I would like to be independent because uh you've got to be able to well well ESPN's independent give both teams crap when they make mistakes, yeah. If you're affiliated with one team, it's like well, yeah. But holy, I'm talking that's what I'm talking about, though. TNT is independent, yeah, ESPN's independent, so why couldn't you just be independent? And I'm not saying you have to do it in every city right now, but you should be able to do it nationally, and I'm telling you, look at the the Manning and Manning. Oh, unreal. Right? So I don't know. To me, it's an it's a fix they should try because it would be unreal. And I told I in 05, I took them this because remember the movie the uh show Mystery Science 2000 or whatever it was, or greatest show ever, maybe so so they had these little characters down in the bottom, just figureheads, and they talked through the whole movie and then they made fun of the movie. Oh, yeah, you yeah, sure, you run back into that haunted house with an axe where the axe was, you'd run back in the house, like kind of make mocking things and doing whatever, and then talking through the movie with it. I kind of took that because I took it to the league. You retired, I took it to the league. I said, uh N shell network, I said, listen, we could do this and put Holly on there because it if just said his image of the back of his head, his voice is so distinct, and the whole league knows it, they would know it's his sarcasm or whatever. They're like, Are you crazy? Don't put him on the air. They're scared shitless to put you on the air. Well, that's the problem, just like I talked earlier about like players. You know, you get pigeonholed, and it's like they they have no idea what you're capable of doing. Well, I was on NBC for a whole year and never swore once. Well done. Yeah. Yeah, two, but you had two years here now of the mammoths doing this thing, and no one's picked up. No one's no one's picked up that it's that it's that it's genius. Yeah, it's gaining. Well, yeah, I mean, you put us on the show, put us on three shows and let us live stream. You see, you tell me who people are listening to, buddy. It would be such a landslide on our side, it wouldn't even be fair. So I mean, if you you're asking me what what else you could do to get it better, that's the answer. Yeah, I you I think you hit it right on the head. Hi, let's talk about uh how much fun it's been to watch your son run through the ranks and become a real quality NHL guy. Well, you know what? For for probably 78 games a year, it's really fun to watch. I have a hard time, I have a hard time coaching against him. Um and and just because of the way he plays. Right? And I and I remember one of the first games when I was in LA and we were in Winnipeg. He ran over to Foley, and then we've got Clifford and Andrea off that are fooling out the mouth, wanting to jump on and grab a piece of him, right? And the style that he plays, he brings it on upon himself. And uh, you know, I enjoy watching him, but I don't like coaching against him. And you know what I was I was fortunate that I got to spend a little bit of time on a bench with him. And you know, when I was an assistant coach in Winnipeg, it uh it was great because he would always work and deal with Jamie Compon. And the only interaction I would have with him would be uh on the penalty kill. But you know, it's just like everybody, it is uh it's about being at the right place at the right time, it's about opportunity, and I and I thought that uh Winnipeg did it right with him. Um you know, his his first year he spent the whole year in in St. John. Um you know he was always a winger growing up. We felt that uh to be to if you really wanted a chance to be a successful player in the National Hockey League, if you could switch and become a centerman. Because you we were looking in in the Western Conference, you're looking at LA, who they had, how San Jose had, right? The all the big guys were down the middle. And if you're a big guy and you want an opportunity to play every night, why not try and become a centerman? Right? And Mark Lamb was unbelievable with him in junior, and and uh, you know, he was open to trying them there. And he spent a year in St. John as a centerman, same thing, right? Cutting his teeth and and got an opportunity in Winnipeg. And uh, you know, as as with a lot of young guys, sometimes you get comfortable. Sometimes things don't always always go the way that you you would like them to, the way that you expect them to. And you know, we forget that uh I think it was after his first or second year, you know, his play his play was falling off, and they actually sent him down. And he was uh he was on his way uh way to the minors, and Andrew Ladd hit Mark Scheifley and took him out, and Scheif wasn't able to play. They brought Adam back up, and it was just the wake-up call that he needed and uh never looked back. Yeah, that's good. It's uh you know, it's we always joke about it. Like I would not want to play in Edmonton or Winnipeg, you know, Hartford, but sometimes for those young guys to be in those uh you know smaller towns, smaller cities that are big hockey cities like Winnipeg, it's a pretty damn good place to start and cut your teeth in the NHL. Yeah, and I and I and I I will say this, Holly, that the the the one thing that uh the Winnipeg Jets organization is first class. And you know, the Chipmans and Dave Thompson's, they they go above and beyond the way that they treat their players. Yeah, you know, like we have nothing but you know great memories of not only the time that we spent there, but the time that Adam has spent there, and and uh you know, just the little things that they do. And you know, like a lot of people don't know what they do and all that, but uh, you know, they go above and beyond. I don't know if people understand the how the arenas much smaller than most or all NHL arenas, right? Yeah. It's like 14 and a half, 15,000, right? Right. And it and and I'll tell you what, there's no better it is one of the best barns come playoff time. Oh yeah, that environment is right. It is you know is unreal too. Right? Like in and you look at you look at the colors, you look at you know the whiteout in Winnipeg, what they're known for, how loud it is, how it uh how the city embraces it, and and that. And you know, last year I was fortunate, like Elaine and I were we were able to go and enjoy some games as as just fans, right? Like in I wasn't uh currently employed, so uh, you know, I could go and and uh you know enjoy the whole the whole atmosphere and and just you know that that uh unfortunately, fortunately, the uh you know they beat St. Louis in in that uh game seven and and what uh what a memory that was. Right. That's crazy that was a crazy ending to our game. Once again, right? Once again, one turnover. Yep, two turnovers, back in that series over. Yep. Unbelievable. It was unbelievable to you. Right. Awful to watch it when you're a St. Louis fan, but but uh but the city of Winnipeg went upside down. It was pretty cool. Yeah, to be in that environment was elite. It it it really did. It needed that, it needed that injection of of uh life, and it it it's amazing how the next day the city is in a better mood uh because of a goal. It was a turnover and a goal, you know. Well, yeah. Pretty cool. So, what's on the horizon for you now? I'll uh I'll uh continue to work in Calgary. Yeah, you know, so we kind of you know, this this this this opportunity. Yeah, it's correct. That's correct. Yeah, this kind of came out of the blue. It was once again, right? Uh we we had spent three years in Seattle and um they had come to a decision that uh they were they were making uh changes in the staff. And I was I was fully fully intending on not working last last winter, and you know, uh unfortunately Brad Brad Larson's uh wife uh was sick and he wasn't uh able to fulfill his duties. So it was Minnesota Duluth, Brad Larson? Um I'm not sure if he was Minnesota Duluth, but he he was uh coached in Columbus, played in col uh played in Colorado. Um I know that uh you know it was it was late in the summer, right? So I started talking to Calgary at uh at the end of August and came on September 1, and and it was gonna be you know, it kind of threw the wrench in a lot of the plans that uh Elaine and I had for the winter, but uh it's worked out. Yeah, that's uh I love I love seeing the old guys that are still involved in the game, and you know, they they scan the benches, and there you are uh on there, and it uh you know it brings back a lot of good old memories that we had back in the days in St. Louis and uh uh you know, playing and we we played at a high level back then. We were good. Oh, absolutely. And that's that whole division we played in was good. The Chuck Norris division? Yeah. You didn't know if you're gonna make it out alive uh a lot of nights, but we had Wendell on Clark. Uh I know, I know he wanted he always wanted me. I sure did. Hey, yeah, what a what a great trade. Billy Berg for Dave Lowry. What a great deal, bud. Thanks. Always wanted to. I knew you'd be okay. I didn't know if Billy Byrd was gonna be, I didn't give a shit. Yeah, but Wendell was always saying he'd go, yeah, you just you just wanted the games all to be close because if someone got ahead by two or three, you knew all hell was gonna break loose. I only happened once. I wouldn't uh allow that. No matter what you did to somebody out there, you were either poking them after a whistle or yapping about something anyway. So I just like I just chuckle about it. But I did I did have that one time where I made a deal. I know what you did. Did you uh do you still have any of your sticks hanging around? Do I still have what? Any of my old sticks hanging around? I sure do. Oh yeah, I do. Hey, hey, they're in a they're in a very safe place. Like, where like where are my I'd go to the trainer and go, where are my sticks? They'd be in Pi's trunk. Hey, I had three young kids and we had to get them through college at that time, right? Then we had a fourth one, so now we're selling the stuff, right? Yeah. That's what I'm looking forward for. That's well, listen, Pi. It's been a great time listening to you. I uh I miss you. I miss uh seeing you and and I love running into you and and hearing the laughs because uh we you know we uh we talked uh during the the puck cancer event uh that chaser started there in St. Louis, and I I said we need to uh you know get rid of the hockey game and just make it a gala, right? And everyone would show up. And you know, there's so many guys connected uh around the country. Um, you know, Troy Wallhofer, um, you know, he's in the music business. We can have a great band come in and we just have this giant gala where the whole league is invited, all of the alumni and everyone that wants to come and support it. And that's that would that would be my uh wish to have it so that it's just not the guys who still like to play hockey. Uh it it's just let's get together and make a great weekend with everybody from around the league that wants to support and fight cancer and raise money. And I think it'd be an unbelievable event. What a great, uh, what a great idea. Like what a great cause, right? Yeah. Not everyone wants to play hockey anymore once they retire. Nobody wants to, but they still like to drink beer. Nobody wants to, and they show up for it for me, and I appreciate it. But I think I I think you're right. It's run its course last this year, and and it's funny because it the numbers did better this year than uh ever. More, you know, and so we'll make a large donation through the Jimmy V Foundation and to Sightman's. It's it's unbelievable, but uh just former players that are able to come, like you know, you'd be busy with the team pie, but just the guys like like Butchie and Bass, like they you know, they show up and you just you just see them and you just gotta start laughing and smile. Like you you see bass, and he looks at you, he starts he starts with a smile, then he's laughing, and you don't even know why he's laughing, he's just laughing. And uh Jimmy Vee dides he bring his juicer with him? No, no juicer. No, no, he drove and then he ate the start five bucks for the new one. Hey, this guy's traveling with a bag of it. Jimmy VZ was there. Yeah, the snake. But we uh but we had some uh some laughs and and you'd you know you'd be a part of uh well the guys could they could bring everything from all the teams they represented, jerseys and people, you know, with all of us, and then you with the great band, you you sell tickets for 10,000 people, come and I think it'd be fantastic. Yeah. What a great event, what a great idea. Holly's on the committee. Yeah, on the sales committee, chairman of the board. Well, hold on here once again, right at the top. Holly has to start right at the top. Sure as hell weren't a chairman of the board in the win. All right. Yeah, those things hurt. Well, listen, we appreciate you being on, my man. I love you. Hey, love you too, guys. Thanks, thank you very much. I will do I enjoy watching him play. I certainly will. Yeah, and I love play. He's one of my favorite players in the league. So pass that on. We gotta get together at Barts one day when we come in. Oh, yeah, for sure. I set them up uh I set them up at a at our club when they were in town playing and uh You sure did. They had team dinner over there, so he was great. What what is that club? I'll talk to you about it later. Government people watching this. I heard it was elite. We're getting over Dave Lowry. Thanks, guys. Hi Lowry. Until next time. Until next time.