Detroit Red Wings sign GM Ken Holland to 4-Year extension

Ken Holland, left, shown with captain Henrik Zetterberg and coach Mike Babcock in 2013, signed a four-year extension Thursday to remain general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. (Photo by Tom Gromak/This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.)
Ken Holland, left, shown with captain Henrik Zetterberg and coach Mike Babcock in 2013, signed a four-year extension Thursday to remain general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. (Photo by Tom Gromak/This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.) /
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The Detroit Red Wings announced Thursday that general manager Ken Holland has signed a four-year contract extension that will keep him with the club through the 2017-18 season.

Holland has been the GM in Detroit since taking over from Jim Devellano and Scotty Bowman in July 1997.

"“Ken is regarded as one of the premier executives in the National Hockey League and has been instrumental in the success of the Red Wings over the last two decades,” owner Mike Ilitch said in a news release. “Marian and I are extremely pleased that he will continue to lead our hockey club over the next four years. We feel strongly that stability is key to the success of any organization and having this new agreement in place with Ken is important to the organization and its future.”"

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Since Holland took over the Detroit front office in 1997, the Red Wings have won 748 regular-season games and 115 playoff games—more than any other club in the league.

Detroit also has three Stanley Cup titles—1998, 2002 and 2008—during Holland’s tenure.

Holland, 58, was a goalie who played briefly in the NHL, playing one game for the Hartford Whalers in 1980-81 and three games with the Red Wings in 1983-84. He played eight seasons in the American Hockey League, going 143-143-36.

He has been with the Red Wings organization since 1983 as a player, scout, director of amateur scouting and assistant GM before taking over the reins in the front office.