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DARREN STEINKE
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Ken Holland has fond memories of taking his children to watch the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede parade in the early 1990s, but he never imagined being a part of the festivities.
That all changes this morning for the 52-year-old general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. Besides being an honoured guest for the Stampede, he is also the grand marshal the downtown parade, which begins at 9 a.m. “Our kids always used to look forward to the Stampede,” said Holland. “My wife (Cindi) and I are going to go to Sawyer Brown (tonight). “This is a wonderful weekend in this city. Everybody gets community spirit.” Holland first arrived in Medicine Hat from Vernon, B.C. in 1974, when he made the roster of the Western Hockey League’s Tigers as a goaltender. He was a Tiger for two years, and met Cindi during that time. After retiring for the minor professional ranks, the family settled back in the Gas City from 1985 to 1994, when Holland was a member of the Wings scouting staff. The family moved to Detroit, when he was named assistant general manager in 1994. He became the general manager three years later.
During the period since he moved to the Motor City, the Wings have won four Stanley Cup titles including this past season’s title run, and Holland is respected as one of the NHL’s top general managers. While he has a massive list of accomplishments including being named the executive of the year by the Hockey News on Monday, it is special to Holland to be remembered in the Hat. He tried to schedule things so that the Stanley Cup was in town this week, but Tomas Holmstrom took it to Pitea, Sweden for a holiday time is his home country. “I had been gone for so long, that when I got the call, it means a lot to me,” said Holland. “This city for me was really my first opportunity to get to where I am today. “This city and this junior team was really the springboard for me professionally and personally for my family in meeting my wife.” |
