Kenneth Mark Holland (born November 10, 1955) is a

Canadian-American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadia ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

executive and former

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

. Holland is currently the president of hockey operations and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. Holland assumed his role in Edmonton on May 7, 2019, after a long front-office tenure with the Detroit Red Wings, serving as executive vice president and general manager of the club from 1997 to 2019 and winning three Stanley Cup championships. In 2009, Holland was listed as second-best overall on

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

's list of the top sports executives of the 2000s. As a goaltender, Holland was drafted in the 12th round, 188th overall by the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

in the

1975 NHL Entry Draft The 1975 NHL Amateur Draft was the 13th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the NHL office in Montreal, Quebec. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers made the most noise at the draft, trading Bill Clement, Don McLean, and t ...

. He played four NHL games with the

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...

and the Red Wings between 1980 and 1984.

Managerial career

Detroit Red Wings

After his playing career ended, Holland took a job with the Red Wings as a scout in Western Canada. He subsequently served seven years as Director of Amateur Scouting and three as assistant general manager. On July 18, 1997, he was promoted to general manager, executive vice president and alternate governor of the Detroit Red Wings. The 2012–13 season was his 16th as general manager and his 30th year overall with the Red Wings organization. He has won the Stanley Cup four times with Detroit: the first in 1997 as assistant general manager and goaltending coach, and the latter three as general manager in 1998, 2002 and 2008. With Detroit, Holland gained a reputation as one of the most successful general managers in the NHL. Under his leadership as GM the Red Wings won the Central Division ten times, the regular-season Conference title five times, the

Presidents' Trophy The Presidents' Trophy (french: Trophée des présidents) is an award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL) to the team that finishes with the most points (i.e. best record) during the NHL regular season. If two teams are tied for the mo ...

four times, and the Stanley Cup three times, and won more regular-season games (789) and postseason games (118) than any other NHL team. On August 14, 2014, the Red Wings announced they signed Holland to a four-year contract extension through the end of the 2017–18 season. On April 7, 2018, the Red Wings announced they signed Holland to a two-year contract extension through the end of the 2019–20 season. On April 19, 2019, the Red Wings announced that Holland had been promoted to senior vice president of the team, and signed a multi-year contract extension. This promotion was done in part to accommodate hiring Steve Yzerman as general manager.

Edmonton Oilers

On May 7, 2019, the

named Holland general manager and president of hockey operations. The deal was for a reported five-year term and filled a GM spot that had been open since January.

Personal life

Holland and his wife Cindi live in suburban Detroit and have four children: Brad, Julie, Rachel, and Greg. On July 12, 2011, Holland, his wife Cindi, and their youngest daughter Rachel became United States citizens. Holland's youngest son, Greg, was sworn in on July 15, 2011.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards

* NAHL Second All-Star Team (1977) * AHL Second All-Star Team (1982) * Inducted into Binghamton (New York) Hall of Fame, 1998 * Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, 2020 * Awarded the Freedom of the City of

Vernon, British Columbia Vernon is a city in the Okanagan region of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is northeast of Vancouver. Named after Forbes George Vernon, a former MLA of British Columbia who helped establish the Coldstream Ranch in nearb ...

on 26 October 2021.

References

External links

*
Ken Holland's trades as GM of the Red Wings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Ken 1955 births Living people Adirondack Red Wings players Binghamton Dusters players Binghamton Whalers players Broome Dusters players Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Detroit Red Wings coaches Detroit Red Wings executives Detroit Red Wings general managers Detroit Red Wings players Detroit Red Wings scouts Edmonton Oilers executives Hartford Whalers players Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from British Columbia Medicine Hat Tigers players National Hockey League executives National Hockey League general managers Sportspeople from Vernon, British Columbia Springfield Indians players Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks Vernon Vikings players