Let there be no mistake about it: Ken Holland, executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, not only loves hockey, he lives hockey.

And, had time permitted on an autumn day at the Eagle Eye Golf Club conference room during the sixth annual Greater Lansing Business/Sports Luncheon, he undoubtedly would have talked hockey all afternoon and well into the evening. Along with his family, and golf, Holland told a capacity crowd that hockey is the thing that gets him going in the morning, keeps him going all day, and gets him excited about waking up the next morning.

Born and raised in Canada, Holland, like many young Canadians, dreamed of one day playing hockey in the NHL. After several years in development leagues and a few seasons in the IHL, he was called up by the Wings and had a chance to play goalie. At the end of the first period, he’d only let one goal in and was feeling pretty good. By the end of the second period, he’d let five more in, and knew he’d better enjoy the third period because it would likely be his last.

At age 29, Holland found himself married with three kids, working at a restaurant in Vancouver and still hoping to make a living somewhere in hockey. His mother almost talked him into becoming vacuum cleaner salesman, but, not convinced he could make a sale beyond his immediate family, he decided against it.

A day later, he was offered a job in the Red Wings organization as the west coast scout. In ensuing years, he flourished with the organization and along the way, got the opportunity to work with many great players, coaches and managers.

Betwixt and between the many NHL anecdotes he related to the appreciative audience, Holland made several observations that apply to running a business as much as they do for a major sports franchise. He spoke of finding something you’re passionate about and putting your all into it. He talked at length about the importance of building and maintaining a strong team. And of course, the importance of teamwork.

In the case of sports, team building starts with a successful draft, and during Holland’s tenure with the Red Wings (he’s been with the organization for 27 years, including 13 as GM), he has been a part of some of the best drafting in pro sports. In 1989, Holland said the Wings had what could arguably be called the greatest draft in sports’ history, picking Nick Lidstrom, Mike Sillinger, Sergei Fedorov, Dallas Drake and two other players who, when teamed up with Steve Yzerman, began what would become a decade-plus of NHL domination.  

Holland also stressed the importance of hiring the very best people you can and making your organization a place where people want to be. To prove this, he related the story about a player who was offered $40 million for a multi-year contract elsewhere, but took a much less lucrative one-year deal with the Red Wings because he wanted to experience hockey in Hockeytown, USA.

As Holland said, “Two things have really impacted my philosophy as a manager: one would be my nine years as a pro. If you look at the way that we try to handle our young players, we probably hold our players back as long as anybody. I have tremendous respect for the NHL and how hard it is to be successful.

“The person that’s had a tremendous impact on me would be Scotty Bowman. I got to work with him from 1994 to 2002, and what Scotty probably did was reinforce my philosophies that I got from my nine years of pro. He loved veteran players.”

Other excerpts from his talk:“Teamwork is about working and sacrificing together. And self-confidence is imperative for success because you’re playing against the best people in the world. You’d better believe you’re good, but at the same time if ego becomes involved and you think you’re better than what you are, it brings a team down.”

Holland concluded by saying that at the end of the day, “whether you’re in business or sports, it’s about the people. It’s about having good people. Hard working people with passion that take great pride and tremendous care in the success of your business. It’s about finding the very best people. Ultimately, you need to have some star players (employees), and those stars need to really care about the success of your team (or business), because they’re the role models, they’re the leaders that are setting the standard by which all the other players coming into the organization are going to be held accountable.”

Sponsors for the annual business/sports luncheon included The Greater Lansing Business Monthly, Shaheen Chevrolet, Dart Development Group, Greater Lansing Sports Authority, Capital Region International Airport, McLaren Health Plan, Dean Trailways, WILX-10 and Eagle Eye Golf Club.

Author: Jack Schaberg 

Photography: Terri Shaver