Ken Holland reflects on time spent as Red Wings general manager in vulnerable moment
Photo credit: NHL.com
Former Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland visited the broadcast booth in Crypto.com arena, as his current team, the Los Angeles Kings, battled against his old protege's original six team.
Ken Holland has been a general manager in the NHL since 1997.
He began his career as director of amateur scouting, and then an assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, and would quickly find success building teams and making tradesthat would win three Stanley Cups wth the Original Six team.
He'd build off that success, which will be history in the NHL record books.
Holland was regarded as arguably the top general manager in the sport for multiple years in Detroit, which included another three Stanley Cup wins, multiple division titles, and multiple Presidents Trophy wins as the top regular season club.
He left the Red Wings with a record of 1,145-644-200 as GM.
His teams made the playoffs 18 years straight, an astounding record for anyone in the sport of hockey.
After he left Hockeytown, he'd join the Edmonton Oilers, where he'd serve until the 2024-25 season, which saw GM Stan Bowman take over. He built one squad that would take the Oilers to two consecutive Stanley Cup finals.
But neither trip would result in winning the hardware.
After leaving the Oilers, he'd be hired by the Los Angeles Kings after they fired Rob Blake.
Ken Holland's Time With the Detroit Red Wings, a lifelong affair
Holland oversaw the drafting of some of the Red Wings' best and iconic players, including Chris Osgood, Pavel Datsyuk, Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, and Dylan Larkin as GM.
With news of the team's 7-3 start that night, Holland reminisced about the team he was part of for quite some time.
"It's always a bit strange for me when I was in Edmonton now to see the Red Wings logo and jerseys, I was there for 35, 36 years," he said. "It's always a bit strange for me seeing the Red Wings uniforms, but i'm happy they're off to a great start."
"I was happy when I was in Edmonton that they were in the East and I was in the west, and I'm happy that I'm in LA and they're in the East. A big part of my life was the Detroit Red Wings."
"I was happy when I was in Edmonton that they were in the East and I was in the west, and I'm happy that I'm in LA and they're in the East. A big part of my life was the Detroit Red Wings."
He set the precedent for Steve Yzerman who has yet to win a Stanley Cup as a General Manager in the NHL.
Can he follow Holland's lead and add some hardware to his name?
Previously on Red Wings Insider
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