The headline alone guaranteed a click from Kevin Lowe — “Chris Pronger’s great mistake: Negotiating under the influence, signing long-term in Edmonton” — but it was one specific phrase in the story that didn’t sit right with the former Oilers general manager.

It was the part where Pronger wrote “Edmonton? Nobody mentioned f—ing Edmonton” while recounting the night in August 2005 when Lowe, then the Oilers’ general manager, acquired the Hall of Fame defenseman for what would become a one-and-done season in the city.

“It’s been home for almost 50 years,” Lowe told The Athletic this week. “When I saw that, I felt that someone needed to say something.”

And so he crafted a public retort to the story Pronger shared about the alcohol-influenced beginning of his Oilers tenure in his new book, “Earned: The True Cost of Greatness From One of Hockey’s Fiercest Competitors,” an excerpt of which was published by The Athletic on April 13.

After reading it, Lowe wrote on LinkedIn that he was disappointed by how casually Pronger folded the city into his anecdote about agreeing to a five-year contract with Edmonton at the end of a night of drinking while his wife, Lauren, was sleeping. Pronger framed that breach of marital trust as the reason why he asked for a trade the following summer, following a loss in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes. He didn’t include any apparent remorse about how his actions impacted the fans, organization or city.

Reading Pronger’s account nearly 20 years later, Lowe said it made him wish he never honored the player’s request to be traded by sending him to the Anaheim Ducks in July 2006.

“I just thought it was someone again using Edmonton as fodder just because it’s for clicks,” Lowe said. “I don’t think Prongs disliked it here, but I thought just how Edmonton was represented in that one line about ‘it was f—ing Edmonton.’ It was like ‘Really?’ It’s a beautiful city. I came here close to 50 years ago. It was just over 400,000 people then; now it’s 1.2 million.

“I say to people it has a small-town feel, but it has everything that a big city has. And, yeah, it’s a little cold in winter, but we don’t have hurricanes, and we don’t have earthquakes and things like that.

“It’s a pretty safe place and a great place to raise a family.”

As Lowe can attest, it’s also been an amazing place to raise a banner. He was an important part of the teams that won the Stanley Cup in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. He was GM during the Oilers’ unexpected run to the 2006 Final that fell one game short. And he had a front-row seat as an organizational ambassador for near-misses the last two springs, when Edmonton was beaten by the Florida Panthers in consecutive finals.

Add it all together, and the Oilers have arguably been the most accomplished organization of the NHL’s post-Original Six era. No other team born after the league’s 1967 expansion has been to more finals than the nine Edmonton has appeared in, and only the Pittsburgh Penguins can match its five championships from that group.

And yet the Oilers always seem to be fighting against some sort of negative undercurrent. You could sense it in the way Pronger shared his reaction to being told he was being traded to Edmonton after thinking he was instead going to Los Angeles, Florida or Boston. The Oilers were the punchline to that anecdote.

Connor McDavid referenced the team’s ever-present battle against public perception in a piece for The Players’ Tribune in February, writing: “I think there’s this narrative that we’re this unlucky, troubled team. The end result hasn’t been there, but it’s not easy getting to two straight Cup Finals.”

They’ve been a smashing success by any measure, including at the gate, where the Oilers are a top-10 NHL revenue generator despite being the league’s northern-most market and one of its smallest when measured by population.

Lowe was raised outside of Quebec City in the small town of Lachute, Que., and had never been to Edmonton before becoming the Oilers’ first-ever draft pick in 1979. He immediately took to the city, living with Mark Messier in those early years while choosing to stay year-round, and never really left, save for a four-year run with the New York Rangers that included his sixth Stanley Cup win in 1994.

He came to appreciate the fact that Edmonton boasts the largest urban park system in North America, with over 160 kilometers of maintained trails, and sits in close proximity to the mountains. The long summer days were another highlight.

“What really stood out for me is the amount of daylight you have in the summertime, Like, it’s crazy,” he said. “I mean you can play a round of golf after dinner.”

Plus, it’s a hockey town.

An Oilers town.

Lowe returned to Edmonton to finish his playing career before eventually becoming an assistant coach, head coach, GM, president and chairman of the organization. He’s had a long time to think about the misconceptions that exist about the city.

“I think it’s as simple as people that often speak poorly of it have never been here — never lived here — to experience it,” Lowe said. “Once a statement’s made, they get a life of their own, you know?”

Lowe thinks back fondly to a dinner he was part of in 2023, before Doug Weight was inducted into the Oilers Hall of Fame. It included Weight and Bill Guerin, two Americans who had successful runs with the team and spoke in glowing terms about their experiences in the Alberta capital that night.

“The wine was flowing,” Lowe said. “They got up and they had all of their families there, and Billy talked about how he and his wife were young and it was good to get out of New Jersey and get on their own. This is where they grew up and owed so much to the city. Dougy Weight said the same thing. I mean, you don’t ever hear of any guys not liking to play here.”

With the Stanley Cup Playoffs upon us and the Oilers gearing up to face the Anaheim Ducks, it’s the best time of year to be in Edmonton. The bars, restaurants and patios will be overflowing with excitement, and a building that can credibly lay claim to being the loudest in the NHL is ready to come alive again.

Even though it’s been an uneven regular season, there’s legitimate hope that McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard can drag the city through another two-month thrill ride. There’s belief they can finish the job this time.

“They’re knowledgeable fans,” Lowe said. “They know it’s not a slam dunk. I was talking to (Wayne Gretzky) yesterday, and a couple things resonated from that conversation. You don’t get to two Finals (and stop) unless a team ages out, but you know the will and the desire is deep, right? And they showed signs this year of playing well enough to be able to contend.”

Asked what he expects to see in the city Monday, when the Oilers and Ducks play Game 1 at Rogers Place, Lowe paused for a moment.

“Let me look for what the weather is,” he said. “Oh yeah! Eighteen degrees (64 Fahrenheit) and sunny. It’s playoff weather, man. Playoff weather.

“When playoffs came around (in his playing days), it always seemed like we were out of winter and the sun was shining, the outdoor patios were open, guys like Mess and I were like, ‘Holy geez, we’re missing all of the action there.’ But it was fun to drive to the rink and see people out enjoying the sunshine and stuff.

“It’ll be all of that.”