How Mike Ilitch passing away was our Organizational turning point.

[Steve Yzerlland]

No, this argument is tiring. "Ken Holland had the luckiest 30+ year career, every decision he made was luck, the people he hired made all the right decisions, any good decision he made was because someone else screwed up it, etc." I get it.

He inherited an all star team with an owner that had an open wallet with no salary cap. This can't be ignored.

 

[kliq]

I just didn't write that "conditions were never met".

There's no extra 7th on calculations.

Only 7th we ever got was from Brad Stuart trade back to California.

Thats not what I mean. You wrote "Sold Tom McCollum in the summer" we didnt sell him, we acquired him.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

He inherited an all star team with an owner that had an open wallet with no salary cap. This can't be ignored.

He played a massive part in drafting most of those guys and started a triumvirate GM post in 94. Him Devellano and Bowman shared responsibilities. He didn't get promoted by having the wrong ideas in that group...

Not sure why people ignore that aspect too. Holland didn't rise to power out of nowhere. One would point out he was probably the most powerful guy of the three as soon as the ill-fated Yzerman trade was attempted without Mike Ilitch's blessing.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

If the rumors/speculation of Tatar (+) for Fowler were true, he should've jumped on it. Not sure what the + was, but iirc a high pick.

 

[Henkka]

I think Holland and Ilitch shared a lot of the same values, which is why the streak ran as long as it did and they shared a lot of success together.

Of course, kind of a way like this.

 

[avssuc]

And he tried his absolute hardest to not rebuild for years.

For good reason... just ask Dave Dombrowski. Not that he is upset with the way things turned out, just that he might have something to say about rebuilding under the late Mr. I.

 

[avssuc]

I want Holland gone for:
1)Bad contracts
2)Mediocre trades (the recent ones have been better)
3)Mediocre draft picks
For historically doing these three things. It's time for someone like Yzerman ( knows how to manage the cap) to take over.

I was on the same boat until last year. Holland managed to rob Vegas a year after he robbed NY. The Tatar trade return was amazing. You would be hard pressed to find better returns over the past 2 years. I hated the Datsyuk cap dump too, but it looks like that may have been for the best as well.

It's pretty easy to hate on Holland for some his work before he started the rebuild, but it's difficult to say that he's not doing a great job the last 2 seasons.