The first member of Cornell's phenomenal recruiting class from last season to be included on this countdown is Joel Lowry. Lowry arrived on East Hill highly touted as a top recruit. His presence on the ice and contributions last season lived up to the much-deserved hype.
Much has been made about Lowry's pedigree. His father is a veteran of the NHL who played for the Canucks, Blues, Panthers, Sharks, and Flames. His younger brother, Adam, took the alternate path of Joel. He currently plays for the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL, a Canadian major junior league. We think that Joel made the right choice.
Much has been made about Lowry's pedigree. His father is a veteran of the NHL who played for the Canucks, Blues, Panthers, Sharks, and Flames. His younger brother, Adam, took the alternate path of Joel. He currently plays for the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL, a Canadian major junior league. We think that Joel made the right choice.
Joel Lowry growing accustomed to teams whose mascots are bears while playings for the BCHL's Victoria Grizzlies.
Even though your program may say that Lowry is from Calgary, AB, he was born in the United States. He was born in St. Louis, MO while his father played for the Blues. His family then moved to Calgary in 2000 where he has stayed generally with Lowry's father serving as both players for the Flames and coach of the WHL's Calgary Hitmen. It was Joel's desire to play college hockey that kept him in Canada.
Joel Lowry joined the Victoria Grizzlies of the very respected and very competitive BCHL. He represented the Grizzlies for two seasons. His consistency and grittiness began to show even then. He accumulated 133 points with appearances in only 117 games. His 2010-11 season was abbreviated because he suffered an injury that kept him off the ice for nearly two complete months. Notwithstanding this injury, Lowry accumulated almost twice as many point as he had in his first season with the Grizzlies. This tear led him to become the highest scorer in terms of points per game in the BCHL. Even with this hiatus, Lowry remained the second-highest scorer in terms of points for the Grizzlies.
Lowry returned to hockey next to don the carnelian and white at Lynah Rink. His trek to East Hill from Victoria, BC began just six months after he was still reeling from a severe ankle injury. However, his statistics from his freshman season showed little cause for concern. It is likely nonetheless that some lingering effects of the injury might have hampered his off-season development. That possibility alone should make the Lynah Faithful very excited to see what additional skills and vibrancy he will bring to Cornell's barn in just 28 days.
Joel Lowry joined the Victoria Grizzlies of the very respected and very competitive BCHL. He represented the Grizzlies for two seasons. His consistency and grittiness began to show even then. He accumulated 133 points with appearances in only 117 games. His 2010-11 season was abbreviated because he suffered an injury that kept him off the ice for nearly two complete months. Notwithstanding this injury, Lowry accumulated almost twice as many point as he had in his first season with the Grizzlies. This tear led him to become the highest scorer in terms of points per game in the BCHL. Even with this hiatus, Lowry remained the second-highest scorer in terms of points for the Grizzlies.
Lowry returned to hockey next to don the carnelian and white at Lynah Rink. His trek to East Hill from Victoria, BC began just six months after he was still reeling from a severe ankle injury. However, his statistics from his freshman season showed little cause for concern. It is likely nonetheless that some lingering effects of the injury might have hampered his off-season development. That possibility alone should make the Lynah Faithful very excited to see what additional skills and vibrancy he will bring to Cornell's barn in just 28 days.
Just off a stellar season that was plagued with injury, Lowry skated for the Big Red after a short off-season in all 35 games for Cornell. He continued to contribute more with strategically planned passes and helpers than goals, but, as the video shows above, Lowry knows when to take the initiative when the opportunity arises. Plus, the video shows how Lowry knows when to capitalize on bountiful opportunities when playing against our archrival in the wrong shade of red. The goal shown is not only Lowry's first goal against the Crimson, but Lowry's first goal at Lynah against an NCAA Division I team (he scored a goal previously in an exhibition tilt against Carleton University). He accumulated 22 points with 16 assists and 6 goals last season.
Lowry helped Cornell claims its first victory at Appleton in seven years last season.
Many of Lowry's greatest contributions do not appear on the score sheet. He sets up many of the plays that lead to the generation of great scoring opportunities. This impressive hockey intelligence in Lowry will be much appreciated on a roster that loses two very smart hockey players in Sean Collins and Locke Jillson. He has the poise to know to whom to pass the puck or whether to make the play alone. This skill will only increase as his career at Cornell develops.
It is axiomatic that the maturation arc between player's freshman and sophomore years is the steepest. When one combines that with the fact that Lowry came off an incomplete season before and possibly a less rigorous off-season before his freshman season at Cornell, the improvement arc for him likely will be very steep. Lowry will become one of the most reliable and key players on a regular basis for the Big Red.
It is axiomatic that the maturation arc between player's freshman and sophomore years is the steepest. When one combines that with the fact that Lowry came off an incomplete season before and possibly a less rigorous off-season before his freshman season at Cornell, the improvement arc for him likely will be very steep. Lowry will become one of the most reliable and key players on a regular basis for the Big Red.
Lowry's line generated many of the best chances for Cornell to tie the 2012 NCAA Regional Final against Ferris State.
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Confidence and composure in front of the net are traits that typify Joel Lowry as seen here against Ferris State.
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Lowry's hockey intelligence led him to significant achievements in just his first season. He scored 0.63 points per game. Lowry was ranked 37th among rookies in the nation for points per game. Lowry's pace of point-earning placed him sixth among ECAC players who played the minimum number of games to be considered for national ranking. The exception who would rank higher if he were added? His teammate, Brian Ferlin. Harvard was the only other program that played in the 2012 ECAC Championships to have a player ranked as highly while Cornell would have two.
Lowry's poise around the net is seen in the above video as well as in the setup of the goal that he scored against Colorado College in the second of a two-game series that began Cornell's rally to take three-points out of the Tigers. The superb scoring chances that he generated during Red Hot Hockey 2011 are an example of things to come. His hockey sense was also very apparent in the Red's clash against the Quinnipiac Bobcats in January. Cornell managed to rally with two short-handed goals to beat the Bobcats at TD Bank Sports Center. Lowry scored the second of those short-handed goals. He positioned himself spectacularly to receive the pass and slip the puck past Hartzell during an odd-man rush to win the game. It was Lowry's first game-winning goal for the Big Red. We can expect many more.
The misfortune that placed Cornell down one goal during the 2012 NCAA Regional Final did not deter Lowry and his linemates. They dug in and battled passionately. They generated several great opportunities, but with a solid Taylor Nelson in net for the remainder of the game, the Big Red would be denied despite the impressive offense that freshman forward Joel Lowry generated.
Lowry's poise around the net is seen in the above video as well as in the setup of the goal that he scored against Colorado College in the second of a two-game series that began Cornell's rally to take three-points out of the Tigers. The superb scoring chances that he generated during Red Hot Hockey 2011 are an example of things to come. His hockey sense was also very apparent in the Red's clash against the Quinnipiac Bobcats in January. Cornell managed to rally with two short-handed goals to beat the Bobcats at TD Bank Sports Center. Lowry scored the second of those short-handed goals. He positioned himself spectacularly to receive the pass and slip the puck past Hartzell during an odd-man rush to win the game. It was Lowry's first game-winning goal for the Big Red. We can expect many more.
The misfortune that placed Cornell down one goal during the 2012 NCAA Regional Final did not deter Lowry and his linemates. They dug in and battled passionately. They generated several great opportunities, but with a solid Taylor Nelson in net for the remainder of the game, the Big Red would be denied despite the impressive offense that freshman forward Joel Lowry generated.
Joel Lowry's future organization, the LA Kings, celebrates with the Stanley Cup in June 2012.
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Let's hope the championship-winning tendency has permeated throughout the entire organization.
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Lowry was among the nine current players for the Big Red who attended an NHL Development Camp over the summer. The Los Angeles Kings selected him in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Lowry is one of eight members of the 2012-13 Cornell team that an NHL team drafted.
His presence within the Kings franchise is already appreciated. His popularity among fans of that SoCal NHL franchise is undeniable. He is one of the few prospects that is referenced commonly by name on Los Angeles Kings fan fora. The Kings fans to their credit, at least in the opinion of WAFT, do a great job to follow and celebrate the accomplishments of their recruits. Lowry's progress in the NCAA post-season was chronicled fairly regularly on Kings News Daily. It is quite refreshing and flattering to Cornell's Los Angeles Kings prospect, Joel Lowry.
Perhaps, you might have heard that the Los Angeles Kings did some winning of note after the 2011-12 NCAA season ended. We hope that there is enough winning left in the franchise that it rubbed off on one of its premier draftees while he visited its development camp over the summer. Cornell has two championships in mind for this season (if a regular-season ECAC title or Ivy-League title is earned in the process of winning the other two, we can accept that). Joel Lowry's penchants for assists makes us think that he'll be plenty of help in getting the Big Red there.
His presence within the Kings franchise is already appreciated. His popularity among fans of that SoCal NHL franchise is undeniable. He is one of the few prospects that is referenced commonly by name on Los Angeles Kings fan fora. The Kings fans to their credit, at least in the opinion of WAFT, do a great job to follow and celebrate the accomplishments of their recruits. Lowry's progress in the NCAA post-season was chronicled fairly regularly on Kings News Daily. It is quite refreshing and flattering to Cornell's Los Angeles Kings prospect, Joel Lowry.
Perhaps, you might have heard that the Los Angeles Kings did some winning of note after the 2011-12 NCAA season ended. We hope that there is enough winning left in the franchise that it rubbed off on one of its premier draftees while he visited its development camp over the summer. Cornell has two championships in mind for this season (if a regular-season ECAC title or Ivy-League title is earned in the process of winning the other two, we can accept that). Joel Lowry's penchants for assists makes us think that he'll be plenty of help in getting the Big Red there.
Lowry is known for being a great contributor of helpers. Hey, Joel, can you give us a hand with this? We need some help lifting this.
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