Ken Holland is a man driven by challenging himself.
He won four Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings organization. Holland could have been perfectly comfortable sliding out of the public eye, and no one would have blamed him. But his desire to win clearly outweighed his dreams of retirement.
After giving way to Steve Yzerman, Holland made his way to Canada, where he became the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, where he was one win shy of a fifth Stanley Cup championship last season. His tenure with the team ended following the loss, and he spent this past season in the NHL's Operations Department as a consultant.
It's evident that Holland was bored out of his mind at that job; the man was itching for an opportunity to win another championship. Much like Tom Brady pushing away retirement to successfully chase a seventh Super Bowl championship, or longtime Red Sox executive Theo Epstein leaving Boston to end another so-called curse with the Chicago Cubs, which he knocked out of the park, Holland is on a quest for general manager supremacy.
After basically a year in limbo, Holland has taken over the GM position with the Los Angeles Kings. With his new role, he reunites with Kings president Luc Robitaille, who was part of the 2002 Red Wings Stanley Cup-winning squad Holland assembled in the 2001 offseason.
The now 69-year-old signed Robitaille, who accepted lesser compensation because he felt Detroit was his best chance at winning that ever-elusive championship. Well, he made the right decision. Holland also added Hall of Famers Dominik Hasek and Brett Hull to an already stacked Wings roster.
And dare we say, Holland may have a grudge. The Kings have been eliminated from the playoffs in each of the last four seasons in the first round and by the same organization that forced Holland to come back to the United States after coming so close to winning it all.
Can Holland Transform The Kings?
The younger generation often underappreciates or fails to understand greatness. Not everyone is like that, of course, but there always seems to be an excuse for why someone is successful. There are instances where people have downplayed Holland's tutelage because he was the GM of "very good teams."
That's insinuating that Holland won four Stanley Cups because he had good players. That's a preposterous argument. He assembled the roster and exemplified that he had an eye for talent. Again, Holland realized the Wings needed better goaltending and depth in the 2001 offseason and got the job done. The players did the rest. Furthermore, we've seen great athletes in other sports win championships with other fantastic players.
We often see these excuses, but they still have to do their jobs, right? Anthony Rendon had Shohei Ohtani on his team with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and fell asleep, so all of these reprieves are just rubbish at this point.
Holland is stepping into a good situation with a solid team that just needs a little extra help, much like the Red Wings heading into the 2001 offseason. Darcy Kuemper is coming off a Vezina Trophy-caliber season, and two-time Cup champion Drew Doughty leads the team on the blue line. The team’s core is aging but there is still promising young talent in the mix.
Twenty-two-year-old forward Quinton Byfield, the No. 2 overall pick in 2020, has recorded back-to-back 20-goal seasons. The Kings also have a strong group of veteran scorers in Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala, both of whom typically post 30 goals per season. Anze Kopitar continues to play at an impressively high level at the age of 37.
Holland will be working with Robitaille, the same guy he convinced to take lesser money because he sold him on being a part of a future Stanley Cup-winning team. The Kings need to make some moves in free agency with players who badly want to win a championship or, in Brett Hull's case, win again.
Matt Duchene has typically taken team-friendly deals. So, why did he part ways with the Colorado Avalanche? He wanted to be on a team that could compete for a championship. He's still looking for one, but the Dallas Stars are still in the hunt. Sam Bennett is also on the market. He can score goals, but he can also elbow someone in the side of the head if he needs to.
Think about the old-school Wings: these guys weren't the best scorers, but you'd want them backing you up if things got dicey. We're talking about guys like Darren McCarty, Kirk Maltby, and Tomas Holmstrom.
Holland is very capable of putting together another great team in Los Angeles. Don't worry about his age. This man still loves hockey, and he's fueled by a desire not only to get revenge on the Oilers but also to win another title.
A Life Lesson For Us All
When everything is taken into account, we're all human beings. While it's cool to spend your entire career with one organization and maintain that steadfast loyalty, there's nothing wrong with chasing another opportunity, especially if it's eating at you. We can all learn something from Mr. Holland. So if you're reading this at home and you've been at the same job for several years, but you have dreams of expanding your horizons with another entity, the only thing that is stopping you from making that leap is yourself. If an older guy like Holland can do it, so can the rest of us.
