The Daily: How Ken Holland Went From Vacuum Salesman to HHOF

One of Ken Holland’s favorite stories is about how he thought about being a vacuum cleaner salesman before embarked on his career on the management side of hockey.

He retold that story to Sportsnet’s Mark Specter when it was announced that Holland was selected to be a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was inducted last night in Toronto.

Fans were mad at Holland at the end of his time in Detroit because the Red Wings were sputtering. However, Holland had an exceptional run as Detroit’s general manager. He was general manager from 1997 to 2019 when he handed the job to Steve Yzerman.

In that span,the Red Wings won the Central Division 10 times, the regular-season Conference title five times, the Presidents’ Trophy four times, and the Stanley Cup three times,. The Red Wings won more regular-season games (789) and postseason games (118) than any other NHL team during that time. The team also won a Cup (1997) when Holland was an assistant GM.

Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Speech – Ken Holland https://t.co/3rPiKXcwiZ

— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) November 16, 2021

Around the NHL

Detroit:  The Red Wings scratched Givani Smith Monday against Columbus. He needs to make himself relevant to stay in Detroit.

Also,  Alex Nedeljkovic will start for Detroit in net tonight against the Dallas Stars. He’s proving he should be in the Red Wings’ long-term plans

Boston: Jimmy Murphy weighs in on whether Jeremy Swayman should be the Bruins’ starting goalie

Colorado: J.T. Compher will be out a month with his injury and Bo Byram is in concussion protocol.

Florida:  Owen Tippett’s confidence is growing with the Panthers.

Pittsburgh: Former Senators defenseman Marc Methot called for Sidney Crosby to be suspended 10 games for a hit against a Washington defenseman

Toronto: Hockey Now’s Scott Cullen wrote a thoughtful piece about why the Maple Leafs’ dress code doesn’t matter

Vancouver: The Canucks will be looking for a little revenge against the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday.

Washington: Sammi Silber writes about the Capitals take a four-game winning streak into their west coast road trip.