The trade deadline brought a lot of new players into the Montreal Canadiens system. One of those players was Keegan Lowe, who was acquired for the struggling Phillip Samuelsson.
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Trade: #Habs acquire Keegan Lowe from Carolina for Philip Samuelsson in exchange of AHL defencemen
Lowe has quickly become a go-to defender for head coach Sylvain Lefebvre in St. John’s. We were lucky enough to get a few minutes with the newest IceCap following the team’s 3-2 victory over Rochester on March 10.
Scott Matla: This trade that brought you to St. John’s was out of nowhere. What were you doing that day, and how did you react?
Keegan Lowe: Yeah, I was back in Charlotte sitting down for some lunch, and my phone rang, and it was the GM of the Hurricanes, Ron Francis, so I knew it had happened right away. Not that I was expecting it, but it’s that time of the year.
It was a lot of shock. But, when they told me where I was going — to a Canadian team — in a big Canadian market I was extremely excited.
It’s a big change going from North Carolina to Newfoundland. How has the change been, and has there been a bit of culture shock?
Yeah, it’s a bit different. I’d never been up to St. John’s, or the Maritimes in general. I didn’t know what to expect, but from what I’ve gathered so far the people are extremely friendly. We’ve been on the road most of the time since I got here, so culture shock … maybe just a little bit because it feels a lot more like home than being in the States, that’s for sure.
How has it been coming to a new team, learning a new system with new teammates?
As far as teammates, it was extremely quick. They took me in right away, and I only knew one guy from before, and everyone else welcomed me and made me feel right at home.
As for adjusting, it’s a different system with different coaches and expectations, but after the first two games where I just kind of played on fumes, I felt more comfortable in the system. There’s minor tweaks here or there, where you just have to be reminded it’s a new system, but other than that it feels normal again.
How did it feel to get that first goal so early into your time with the IceCaps?
It was something you definitely think about when you come to a new team: you want to get yourself on the board and get that off your back and play from there. Hopefully there’s more to come.
That’s the first goal as an @IceCapsAHL player for Keegan Lowe! pic.twitter.com/dX4TAeSpST
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) March 4, 2017
Max Friberg jumped into an earlier conversation and wanted you to say something nice about him. Any kind words for the captain?
Yeah, from what I’ve gathered he’s a good guy and a great leader. We used to battle all the time when he played for the Ducks‘ AHL team in Norfolk; we played them a lot when I was in Charlotte. It’s nice to be on his team now.
