On this Day: Wings sign Bowman and promote Holland

Another brilliant move from the legendary Mr I and the Ilitch family.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
On this Day: Wings sign Bowman and promote Holland
Keystone Press

July 19th, 1997: Just two months after hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time in 42 years, the Detroit Red Wings announce that they’ve re-signed future Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman and promoted assistant GM Ken Holland to the GM position. In retrospect, it was a historic day that lead to the continued dominance of the Wings for at least another decade. 

Bowman and Holland, of course, would go on to lead the Wings to two more Stanley Cups in 1998 and 2002, with Holland on board for another on in 2008, six years after Bowman had retired.

For all the criticism that Holland receives these days, it’s important to get some perspective. For over a decade he was the NHL’s most respected general manager and he should be given a lot of credit for re-establishing the Red Wings as one of the NHL’s best, most successful franchises.

Source: NHL.com