Ken Holland rumored to join Utah front office

[BraveCanadian]

Needs to get his son a new job, I guess.

 

[Euro Twins]

He was the director of scouting. Holland didn’t ascend in Detroit because he had the wrong ideas. He helped turn around the talent, then after Devellano and Bowman ill-fated thoughts on trading Yzerman he gained more power before fully gaining control outside of the three gm setup. He hired Hakan Andersson and Jim Nill. His best talent was honestly surrounding himself with good people.

Hey people can continue this strange narrative. The guy is in the HHOF for a reason. Like I said people can say the game has passed him by, but he very clearly is one of the smarter hockey minds of my lifetime. So to get advice and to have as a sounding board isn’t a bad thing. This rumor doesn’t have him as an ultimate decision maker. It has him in the kind of role Devellano assumed in Detroit for a ton of years.

I absolutely agree his best talent was surrounding himself with good people and scouting. I'm not denying his talents. His worst traits are trades and cap management though. And in a cap era that can be devastating to a team

 

[Czechboy]

I was hoping he'd go to Vancouver or Calgary personally.

 

[PaulD]

Yeah I cant imagine being as old as Holland/Lou/Poile and having made the money that they did in their careers and actually wanting a job lol

These guys are very wealthy. I can not understand why you would want to be part of NHL management team in late 60s to 80s.

Only some one who never had money would this baffling.

 

[hamzarocks]

Only some one who never had money would this baffling.

Maybe so, human greed is associated with wealth

These guys arent far from their graves and still wanting to work in managerial roles (Lou and Poile especially).

Rich people just operate in bizarre manner

 

[archangel2]

Good. Let him ruin another team.

Well the Evil team did get to game 7 of the cup final

 

[PaulD]

Maybe so, human greed is associated with wealth

These guys arent far from their graves and still wanting to work in managerial roles (Lou and Poile especially).

Rich people just operate in bizarre manner

As Mic Jagger said "are we suppose to go sit on a rocking chair on the porch"
It's great that these guys are still running teams in their senior years.

 

[BLNY]

Yeah I cant imagine being as old as Holland/Lou/Poile and having made the money that they did in their careers and actually wanting a job lol

These guys are very wealthy. I can not understand why you would want to be part of NHL management team in late 60s to 80s.

Depends on the role. Lots of "advisors" work remotely for significant parts of the season and don't put in anywhere near the hours.

 

[Euro Twins]

Well the Evil team did get to game 7 of the cup final

In spite of Holland. Unless you think Darnell nurse and jack Campbell are worth their massively over inflated contracts

 

[John Mandalorian]

Who cares about Ken Holland still. Just buy a Members Only jacket, you fossil, and off with you.

 

[Three On Zero]

Which has nothing to do with your terrible statement.
Lidstrom retired 12 years ago.

You claim he was gift wrapped and he wasn't. He was part of building the teams, first as a scout, then as Director of Amateur Scouting for 7 years and 3 years as Assistant GM prior to getting the GM job. Pretty sure he was part of the group choosing who to draft as head of the department...and later on as GM.

One can argue the misses in later half of his Detroit-career, but has nothing to do with your statement.

Drai/McD was the definition of gift wrapped, not his players with DRW

 

[Breakers]

I still can’t believe his son was the assistant GM

Next level nepotism
I’m not monitoring assistant GM’s but when the oilers announced a mutual parting

Too much of this in the league.

If I owned a team and a member of the front office said can we hire my son, I’d be like yeah ok, but not to do with hockey operations

 

[Cursed Lemon]

Gift wrapped?
He was part of the scouting staff drafting Lidstrom and he drafted Datsyuk.
Could they have won another couple of cups, sure. Were they more than competitive for other longer runs? Yes. But gift wrapped geez, head out of toilet please.

How'd that scouting (and everything else) go after the lockout

 

[Kamus]

Smith is relatively new to hockey so there's a chance this a "resume" hire i.e. sees that he was the GM of multiple cup winners and his now former team just made the finals.

Wouldn't be surprised if hes going to be the liaison between Bill Armstrong & Smith.

Holland first order of business:
1) draft a generational player

 

[SirKillalot]

Drai/McD was the definition of gift wrapped, not his players with DRW

You don't win the cup with 2 players. He did some big errors, but realistically he still improved the team by a lot and only the last 2 seasons they were a contender, with one game 7 final loss.

How'd that scouting (and everything else) go after the lockout

What does it matter, still wasn't what the answer was about.

 

[JianYang]

Lots of wealthy people just wanna to wake up in the morning and go to work. Don't just wanna sit around and do nothing or play bunch of golf.

I think alot of people can't "do nothing" without derailing their lives.

An idle mind is the Devil's workshop.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

I wish i could make millions of dollars by starting every sentence with

"When I was in Detroit...."

 

[tarheelhockey]

Yeah I cant imagine being as old as Holland/Lou/Poile and having made the money that they did in their careers and actually wanting a job lol

These guys are very wealthy. I can not understand why you would want to be part of NHL management team in late 60s to 80s.

For someone like Holland who has a lot of established clout, NHL management is a pretty sweet gig. He’s getting paid handsomely to be a local celeb and spend his days doing what we on HFBoards do for free/fun — plus enjoying the extensive perks of being high up in an NHL front office.

For someone Lou’s age there’s an argument to be made that it’s a bit of a health risk to have so much day-to-day intensity. But maybe also a counter-argument that it keeps him from becoming too sedentary.

 

[Stephen]

If he’s jumping right back into the game like that, I wonder what pushed him out of Edmonton?

 

[Stephen]

For someone like Holland who has a lot of established clout, NHL management is a pretty sweet gig. He’s getting paid handsomely to be a local celeb and spend his days doing what we on HFBoards do for free/fun — plus enjoying the extensive perks of being high up in an NHL front office.

For someone Lou’s age there’s an argument to be made that it’s a bit of a health risk to have so much day-to-day intensity. But maybe also a counter-argument that it keeps him from becoming too sedentary.

Feels like the game keeps Lou young. All that hockey stress just makes him glow.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Feels like the game keeps Lou young. All that hockey stress just makes him glow.

At this rate he could run for President someday

 

[Stephen]

At this rate he could run for President someday

Yeah, when he comes of age, absolutely.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Holland, the legend that just keeps on going.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

He was the director of scouting. Holland didn’t ascend in Detroit because he had the wrong ideas. He helped turn around the talent, then after Devellano and Bowman ill-fated thoughts on trading Yzerman he gained more power before fully gaining control outside of the three gm setup. He hired Hakan Andersson and Jim Nill. His best talent was honestly surrounding himself with good people.

Hey people can continue this strange narrative. The guy is in the HHOF for a reason. Like I said people can say the game has passed him by, but he very clearly is one of the smarter hockey minds of my lifetime. So to get advice and to have as a sounding board isn’t a bad thing. This rumor doesn’t have him as an ultimate decision maker. It has him in the kind of role Devellano assumed in Detroit for a ton of years.

He was one of the smarter hockey minds. But when you look at his trades, contract signings, drafting in the last 10+ years, he is a mediocre GM at best.

Now he's more like Dan Cleary at the end of his career, hoping someone will give him a job based on his past accomplishments and loyalty.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

He was one of the smarter hockey minds. But when you look at his trades, contract signings, drafting in the last 10+ years, he is a mediocre GM at best.

Now he's more like Dan Cleary at the end of his career, hoping someone will give him a job based on his past accomplishments and loyalty.

Last I checked this rumor is not about a GM role. His team went to the Cup final last year even if it was.

I don't think his role in the NHL anymore is as a GM. I think as a hockey advisor at a senior level he offers a lot. He is also responsible for a lot of on ice changes over his tenure so keeping him involved on a team to league level discussions provides value to the hockey community. For the life me I will never figure out how a fan-base that has four cups and a quarter century of greatness with Holland in a significant role seems to have it in for that person. It makes Philly fans pelting Santa look classy.