| Owen Fowler | Omaha Lancers | USHL | L | F | 5’10” | 190 | UMass Lowell | 2022 | Tewksbury, MA | 2002 | 2021-2022: College Free Agent |
Neutral Zone NHL’s Ian Moran’s comments, August 2021: For the first time I was able to watch and work with Owen this Summer. He’s obviously a USHL player and a D1 commit, but he was doing skills with primarily a group of U14s. He set a phenomenal example for the younger players. Sometimes you get older kids who “big time” the younger kids and they might not go as hard, but not Owen. He worked his butt off. Always doing the extra rep and going 100% and he was more than willing to help the group. So why did I update this? Because it goes to show what I wrote about him years ago. He’s a leader and he cares about his craft, improving his skills and working to be the best he can be.
(1) Brain – Owen thinks the game well. He remains on the defensive side during 50-50 battles and rarely gets himself trapped along the boards. He understands what the game is dictating and he consistently makes the correct play. Owen is a dependable winger. He reads the ice well as an F2 or F3 during both the neutral zone and offensive forecheck. He takes smart angles and uses a very active stick to shut down passing lanes to generate turnovers. He’s smart at the lines both with and without the puck and rarely does he get himself in trouble trying to do too much. Although he is excellent as an F1 on the forecheck eliminating time and space, he is smart enough to know that running around for a big hit or chasing the puck behind the net is usually a poor decision.
(2) Vision & Poise – Owen has the skill set to make plays and be a power play guy in college, but his potential to make a living at playing hockey will be his poise to make the right play when the game is on the line. Owen put up back to back 36 point seasons in New England Prep hockey. While we feel that he does not project as an NHL point producer we like that he scored more goals (18) in 2019-20. He can make a living as a puck hound in the paint.
(3) Feet – He accelerates quickly, is very agile and strong as a bull. Owen has a wide base skating posture and an explosive first step. He stops and starts on pucks showing very good lateral quickness and agility. His wide base generates a powerful cross-under which generates enormous speed when coming out of turns.
(4) Compete & Effort – A max effort player. He is player that we have never seen take a shift off. We heard rumors that he was playing through an upper body injury this year, but that certainly effect his effort or compete level. He will battle for loose pucks to the whistle and beyond. Owen has the high compete level that professional organizations love to have in their system.
(5) Contact or Physicality – Strong player who fights through contact and wills his way to win battles. He is a bull. He’s thick and powerful. Owen can withstand players taking runs at him and he has an excellent exploding shoulder. He has the mentality and physical make-up to wear an opponent down over a playoff series.
(6) Release – Shoots the puck in stride and has the ability to use the defenders as a screen while still hitting the net. He shoots the puck with authority and can fire accurate snap shots in traffic.
(7) One Timer Ability – Can one time the puck on a line rush or while high in the slot. It is not a bullet, but he can shoot it off bad passes and awkward passing angles. We noticed that Owen’s stick seems much quicker this past season resulting a much more powerful shot.
(8) Body Language – Only Note Extremes. Owen is a leader. We feel he will wear a letter while at UMass-Lowell.
(9) Special Teams Potential – We do not feel Owen is an NHL power play guy, but we have no doubt that he has the hockey IQ and mindset to be a penalty killer in professional hockey. We have no doubt that Owen has the mentality to be a special teams contributor in professional hockey. He puts the team first, has ice awareness and is detail oriented. We feel his improved stick quickness and strength will lead to second power play opportunities. We have no doubt that he will kill penalties at a very high level.
(10) Intangibles – His heart. What does that mean? Owen wants it. Yeah, he proves shift in and shift out that he will battle and do what it takes to win. As a coach there are certain players who you believe will make the right play. That when the game is on the line and you need someone to sacrifice their body by blocking a big shot or getting the redline late in the game to allow for a line change rather than an icing. Owen is that player. There are other players who are prettier and can pull off a backhand toey in pickup hockey, but Owen is a competitor. He makes the right play. He puts the team first. He has leadership qualities and is the type of player that NHL coaches want in their line-up.
A look back at the recap of Owen’s USHL Debut back in October of 2019: Owen made his USHL debut last night for Des Moines and buried a back door beauty. Well, it wasn’t so much a thing of beauty as much as it was the type of goal you should get accustomed to seeing Owen score. While he was a strong side F2, Dubuque’s defenseman tried to initiate a D to D breakout and which led to a weak side turn over. Owen crashed the net with his stick down and Boom…. moment that he’ll remember. A goal that some fans might not appreciate nearly as much as his coaches will. The goals will get Owen some fan mail, but his brain and grit will make scouts notice. Owen does not take a shift off. He is a PITA (Pain In The A$$) to play against and opposing defenders know when he’s on the ice. He doesn’t project as a scorer in the NHL, but he can be a dependable smart bottom 6 forward who kills penalties and always has his coaching staff’s trust. That is key… and a huge compliment. So we will be watching Owen this year and so will many others. And he will put up approximately 55 points playing prep, but his true value and future in professional hockey will always be because of his brain and his heart.