By Scott Fisher /
Former Calgary Flames Dave Lowry and Joel Otto never shared the same bench until last season.
Now the two ex-NHLers patrol the bench as assistant coaches with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen.
Lowry and Otto, who have in excess of 2,000 games of NHL experience between them, faced each other plenty over the years.
Now, they’re passing on what they learned.
Including how to stay sharp during the summer months.
Lowry attended a camp in Napean, Ont., and said he felt like he was going through basic training.
“I was fortunate that when I was growing up, there was a conditioning camp,” Lowry said. “It’s funny because the guy who ran it was (former NHL linesman) Wayne Bonney.
“I used to hate him.”
Lowry, who played for the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Florida Panthers and San Jose Sharks in addition to the Flames, said he didn’t appreciate his drill sergeant at the time.
“It was really tough and it was three nights a week for all of August,” he said. “We used to think he was the meanest guy ever.
“But we crossed paths throughout our careers and we’d always talk about that.”
Now, Lowry runs his own camp in the summer.
“With my boys, I run two age groups — a ’91 and a ’92/’93 group — and it’s the same thing,” he said. “It’s strictly a conditioning camp and I run it for three weeks in August.
“These kids all know going in that it’s going to be hard.
“But they’re always prepared for the tryouts and the camps they go to. They’ve all had good results by being ready at the beginning.
“It’s about quickness, moving the puck quick. We work on skating, on pivoting, we work on everything. But, at the end of the day, it’s at a high pace and the focus is on the conditioning side of it.”
For Otto, spending a month on the ice in the summer wasn’t an option.
Growing up in St. Cloud, Minn., he took whatever ice-time was available.
“I grew up in the ’70s in the States when year-round hockey really wasn’t in existence,” Otto said.
“Camps were just starting to pop up and it was nice to go for a week, have some fun and hone your skills for a little bit.
“Mostly, it was just the enjoyment of getting back on the ice for a week.”
Otto, who suited up for 11 seasons with the Flames and another three with the Philadelphia Flyers, said he never worried about playing during the off-season.
“Hockey was pretty much strictly a November to March game, so I played other sports.”
He taught at a school during his college years, but after that, the summer meant he had time to do other things.
“For me, I tried to distance myself from the game in the summer,” said Otto, who had 508 points and 1,936 penalty minutes in 943 games.
“Even when I was playing professionally, I worked out hard in the summer, but I didn’t get on the ice all that much.
“I needed to be mentally fresh. That was just me, everybody’s different. I needed the hunger to get back on the ice and be excited about it.”
— Scott Fisher covers the WHL for the Calgary Sun.
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