Wayne Fleming and Bob Lowes are two legends of the men's hockey program at the U of M, getting inducted in the Manitoba Bisons Men's Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993 and 2018, respectively. And while the former passed away in 2013 after a hard-fought battle with brain cancer, his impact is still felt to this day by the latter, who has been the Assistant Director of Player Personnel for the Vegas Golden Knights since 2016.

"Wayne was the only reason I attended the U of M," said Lowes, a native of Prince Albert, SK who was recruited by Fleming to play for Manitoba starting in 1985. "I believed that he would be a great mentor and coach for me. He didn't disappoint and exceeded my expectations."

Fleming, who played for four years with Manitoba in the 1970's before assuming head coaching duties for the majority of the 1980's, was a reliable friend for the former centreman. He knew Lowes planned on becoming a coach after his playing career was done and helped to ease the transition by naming him an assistant coach in 1987-88 while the student-athlete recovered from a back injury.

Learning under Fleming had a significant effect on Lowes, as he was able to see the game from a different angle.

"The best advice he gave was to take the job serious but not yourself," Lowes said.

"He lived this way, so the example was seen every day in how he carried himself. The skills he taught me were how to further analyze the game and how to prepare for practices and games. He was my biggest and best mentor to becoming a coach and allowing me to make a living in the hockey business."

Lowes took Fleming's mentorship and ran with it upon graduating from the U of M in 1989. He won the ANAVET Cup in 1990 as head coach of the Nipawin Hawks in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and was later named head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings from 1992-2001. He earned the Western and Canadian Hockey League's Coach of the Year Award in 1996 and also attained the honour in 2002 as bench boss for the Regina Pats. 

He came back to Brandon as chief scout from 2005-07 and was hired by the Ottawa Senators as a full-time amateur scout in 2008. Later on, he became the director of amateur scouting for the team before transitioning to his current role with the Golden Knights two years ago.

While he's achieved enormous success in the hockey field, Lowes's message for current and future Bison players looking to make it big was simple: work hard and never stop learning.

"To any U of M players that want to continue to play professionally or try and make a living in the game of hockey, my biggest piece of advice is to continue to work upon getting better as a player," he said.

"Look to attain knowledge and expertise needed to stay in the game as a coach, scout or administrator."