Joel Lowry joins the Big Red after a break-through season with the BCHL's Victoria Grizzlies last year. He was passed over in the NHL draft in 2010, but was selected in the fifth round by the Los Angeles Kings as a 19-year-old in June. His younger brother, Adam — who plays in the major junior Western Hockey League — was selected in an earlier round. That makes for one proud father in Dave Lowry, who is an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames after a 19-year playing career in the NHL.
 
Q: So tell us about last year. Your numbers were great, but you were actually fighting a nasty ankle injury. Was it really kind of a tough year for you with that nagging you for a while?
A: Well the first part of the year, it started out really well. We were doing really well in the league, and a lot of our guys were doing really well, and then I got hurt just at the start of December. I tried to come back a little too early, and then it just kind of blew it up really bad. I didn't wait long enough. After that, it was bit of a struggle the rest of the year. I had to do (physiotherapy) the rest of the year, and I had to just take care of it all the time. It was always sore and always hurting, but I kind of had to play through it, which was a bit of a pain. But I'm feeling better now. So I'm just looking forward to getting the season started, I guess.

Q: And yet it was still a big year for you. You ended up on the draft board as an overage player. Did it surprise you how well the year went?
A: Not really. I was pretty confident going into the year. We had a really good team, a lot of good players and a really good coaching stuff. So we knew that if we executed every night, like the success would come. Like we had a lot of guys do really well last year, so I think that it was just a group effort that lead to all of that.

Q: How intense was the draft process with you and your brother sitting at home waiting for your names to be called?
A: It was kind of intense. We knew he was going to go on into the draft and we weren't too sure about me. So I was pretty excited from him. He went pretty early. So it was definitely a relief for him and it was really exciting. And then I kind of knew that I was possibly going to go after him, so after he went it was kind of just a wait-and-see process. I was lucky enough to get picked, too, so it was a pretty good feeling for the both of us to share it together.

Q: What did you do that day? Were you loose or pretty much glued to a TV for it?
A: For the first couple rounds, I actually went to the gym in the morning and went and worked out with my trainer and a couple of my buddies. My brother, he kind of stayed at home and watched the draft from the start of the second round, because he knew he might sneak into the late second round. He went really early in the third, and I got home and he'd just been picked, so it was pretty exciting. Our grandparents came and my cousins, and all my whole family was there, so we just kind of huddled around the TV, hoping for the best I guess.

Q: Talk a little about your decision to go Junior A and then college, as opposed to going Major Junior. I saw you had a chance with the WHL's Red Deer Rebels when you were 17. Why did you go Junior A?
A: It was a really hard decision for me. Growing up, my dad played in the OHL, and my dad coached in the WHL, and my brother was with a WHL team as well. I guess I was kind of on the bubble as a 17-year-old and I didn't really want to sign and lose (NCAA) eligibility. I ended up going back to juniors and talking to Victoria (of the BCHL), and that was the place I wanted to go. Once I went out to Victoria, I think that was what really did it for me. I loved it there and didn't really want to leave. I talked to a couple of schools really early, and it kind of piqued my interest. I think that was the reason I decided to go that route, I guess.

Q: So why end up here? Why not another school?
A: Well Cornell is actually the first school to talk to me, and they were also the first school to offer me, too. I came out on my fly down a couple of years ago and I loved it here. I knew (former Victoria teammates) Dustin (Mowrey) and (Madison Dias) going in, so there was comfort there. Just the atmosphere of the game when I came and watched, I had never seen anything like it. I look forward to hopefully getting the experience of that this year.

Q: Was it helpful to have a dad as a pro? As a hockey player, was it helpful to have someone who really, really knew the game kind of looking over your shoulder?
A: I learned a lot from him growing up. He always helped us out, me and my brother. But I think the biggest thing was I got to see a lot of games when I was younger, and I got to be around a lot of the pros and see how they prepare, how they put in their work every day. From that standpoint, I think it helped a lot.

This story first appeared in the Cornell Hockey Night program on Oct. 21. The first installment of Freshman Friday featured forward Brian Ferlin. Next week, we will chat with defenseman Joakim Ryan.