After the trade was made and his bags were packed, Owen Fowler (Tewksbury, Mass.) approached his new teammates. Fowler had carved out a reputation in the United States Hockey League as a pain-in-the-behind forward for opponents.
“When you play against him he’s a villain,” Sioux City head coach Luke Strand said.
Now Fowler was walking into the Tyson Events Center as Sioux City’s new skater following a Feb. 4 trade. His new teammates were guys he slammed his body into before — and after — the whistle. Would it be awkward?
“When he walked into the locker room to introduce himself to the guys, they said, ‘We know you,’ ” Strand remembered with a laugh.
Strand is still laughing – the trade that brought Fowler to Iowa from Omaha paid off on May 21 when Sioux City captured the Clark Cup as the USHL’s champion with a 2-1 win over Madison.
Fowler, who will be a UMass Lowell freshman in the fall, said he felt part of his new team after just one practice.
“I thought we had all the confidence in the world in the guys we have. It just means that we’ll be together forever. We’ll walk as champions. We’ll be connected for the rest of time,” Fowler said after helping Sioux City win its first championship in 20 years.
A 5-foot-9, 188-pound wrecking ball on skates, the Mass. native provided an element of toughness and edge the Musketeers lacked.
The cost was not insignificant. Fowler and a Phase 1 eighth-round pick were sent to Omaha for affiliate Thomas Neu, a Phase 1 second-round pick and a Phase 2 fourth-round pick. But Strand said the Fowler trade was exactly what Sioux City needed.
“I thought he gave us a shot in the arm,” Strand said.
A player who patterns his game after Boston Bruins star Brad Marchand, the feisty Fowler has given opponents a shot in the arm, the leg, the midsection and the shoulders since he joined the USHL. He was no different this season when he finished second in the USHL in regular-season penalty minutes with 196.
Fowler, 19, was on pace to lead the league in PIM’s when he curtailed his trips to the sin bin late in the season.
His discipline carried over to the playoffs. In 10 games, he was called for only four minor penalties.
Fowler chipped in a goal and assist, and played crucial minutes for the Musketeers. Strand said Fowler had the playoff impact of someone who scored six goals and added six assists.
“I think he gave our team some swagger,” Strand said. “He’s a passionate, passionate hockey player.”
In the playoffs, when the games become “mean,” Strand said Fowler is the type of player a team needs to win a championship.
“He came as advertised,” Strand said of Fowler. “He comes to the rink every day trying to improve.”
Stand said Sioux City had been trying to acquire Fowler for more than one season. The addition of Fowler and another player the Musketeers dealt for, defenseman Damien Carfagna, allowed Sioux City to defeat Waterloo, Tri-City and Madison in the playoffs.
Without adding Fowler and Carfagna, Strand said it’s unlikely the Musketeers would have brought the Clark Cup back to Iowa.
In the championship series, Sioux City won the Clark Cup three games to one thanks to an overtime victory over Madison before 2,611 fans in Madison, Wis., when Nick Pierre scored.
“I kind of just blacked out,” said Fowler, who was on the bench when Pierre scored. “I don’t even know. I hopped over the boards, threw my stuff and we met at center ice. It was amazing.”
Fowler’s excitement that night was much different when he heard the news of his Feb. 4 trade. An assistant captain for Omaha, the news caught him off guard.
“Owen called home and said, ‘I can’t believe it. I’ve been traded. Again,’ ” Jack Fowler, Owen’s dad, said. “Because this wasn’t his first time being traded, it was easier, but he truly loved the Omaha guys.”
After the trade, a contingent of Omaha fans made the 90-minute drive to Sioux City to cheer on Fowler, a sign of what he meant to the franchise on and off the ice.
Fowler was traded during his first full USHL season when Omaha received him in a deal with Des Moines.
Fowler moved away in 2018 to attend Governor’s Academy. Since then he’s been far from home, mostly in the Midwest. Fowler said he can’t wait to begin training with his UMass Lowell teammates in July. He’s part of what is expected to be a terrific freshman class for head coach Norm Bazin.
“The more you win championships, the more you know what it takes,” Bazin said. “It’s important to their development. It’s a big piece of the development.”
The Fowler family is looking forward to seeing Owen play for UMass Lowell at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, a mere 15-minute ride from their home.
“No more trains, planes and automobiles,” quipped Jack Fowler. “Owen’s really been out of town since he was 16 years old when he moved to Governor’s.”
To improve his game, Fowler has pushed himself in every way possible. Sometimes that’s led to him being Public Enemy No. 1 in opposing rinks. Fowler doesn’t care about being a villain. He just wants to win.
“Owen is a player who’s hard to play against,” his dad said, “but you want him on your team.”
Jack Fowler said his son has produced plenty of “blood, sweat and tears” during his road to becoming a champion.
In Madison, Wis., with his father and brother, Jonathan, in attendance, a sweaty Fowler experienced plenty of tears — tears of joy over winning a championship for a franchise that thought enough of him to execute an in-season trade.
“It was crazy,” Jack Fowler said. “You watch championships and you think it’s great. But when it’s your own kid it’s emotional. It was awesome.”
