Former Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, now in the same role with the Los Angeles Kings, visited with broadcasters Ken Holland and Chris Osgood during the first intermission of Thursday evening's game at Crypto.com Arena.
The majority of the glory years for the Detroit Red Wings were overseen by former general manager Ken Holland, who had been promoted to general manager, executive VP and alternate governor shortly after the club's 1997 Stanley Cup win.
He had previously worked in the organization as Director of Amateur Scouting and as assistant general manager, a career that followed his own professional playing days that included three games as a Red Wings goalie in 1983-84.
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.
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He complied an overall record of 1,145-644-200 as GM, and the club made the playoffs in each of his first 18 years in that role.
Holland departed the organization in April 2019 upon the return of Steve Yzerman, who took over the GM responsibilities. Holland would then take over the same role with the Edmonton Oilers less than a week later, and would eventually oversee the team that went to the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.
He now works as general manager of the Los Angeles Kings, whom the Red Wings are battling at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday evening.
Holland joined broadcasters Ken Holland and Chris Osgood during the first intermission, and recounted his early encounters with the latter when he was a young goaltender in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
"I watched Ozzie all that year, and at the end of the year in May," Holland said of Osgood. "I asked if he'd gotten any calls from any teams, and he said nobody. I said if you get to the third round and you're still there, we're taking you....the rest is history."
With Holland working as Director of Amateur Scouting, the Red Wings did select Osgood in the third round (54th overall) of the 1991 Draft, and it was Holland who oversaw the selections of players like Pavel Datsyuk, Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, and Dylan Larkin during his career as GM.
When asked what he thought of Detroit's strong 7-3 start through the first 10 games of their centennial campaign, Holland said he was happy to see so many young players involved in their success.
"They're off to a great start, they have a lot of great young players," Holland said. "They have what, three 20-year-olds on the team? It's amazing to be in the National Hockey league and be 7-3 with three 20-year-olds. I'm happy to see Dylan Larkin, an old draft pick of ours, off to an incredible start."
The Red Wings have a pair of 20-year-old players on their roster in rookies Emmitt Finnie and Axel Sandin-Pellikka, while Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, who did make the roster out of Training Camp, was recently sent down to the American Hockey League.
It's now been over six years since Holland departed the Red Wings organization, and he admitted that it's still a bit strange having to face the team that was part of his life for several decades.
"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."
Holland will be among the multiple special guests who will take part in the upcoming "100 Years of Hockeytown: A Night at the Fox Theatre" on Saturday, Nov. 8. at the Fox Theater on Woodward Avenue, three blocks from Little Caesars Arena, as part of the Red Wings' celebration of their centennial season.
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