Hall of Fame Notebook: Clean Holland

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There was almost a void in Ken Holland’s Hockey Hall of Fame management career.

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Before exploring a game, signing a player, a coach, or making a trade on her way to winning four Stanley Cups and Team Canada gold, her mother, Lee, thought selling vacuums was the way to go for a minor league. finished. goalie.

“It was 1985, I was 29 years old, the phone was ringing with my agent and he was telling me I had no job,” Holland said Friday as he, Kevin Lowe, Jarome Iginla, Doug Wilson, Marian Hossa and Kim St. Pierre received their Hall ringtones. . . “(He and his wife Cindi) had three children under the age of four and my mom wanted to help me put food on the table.

“She thought everyone needed a vacuum cleaner, (Electrolux) was the best on the market, we knew a lot of people (in Vernon, BC) through sports and she thought I had the gift of speaking.”

Around that time, Detroit general manager Jim Devallano offered Holland a job scouting. That led to a friendship with fellow scout Neil Smith, who four years later was named the Rangers’ general manager and further inspired Holland.

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“I thought if you can build a resume, maybe I could. But there are so many people in the league that you need luck too. ‘

Holland oversaw Detroit’s latest streak of glory, left a plan for Steve Yzerman and is now seeking another title with Edmonton.

WAITING was worth it
For the five players and Holland in the constructors category, it has been a 17-month wait since their announcement as the class of 2020 to finally don the coveted ring, Hall jacket, and Monday night induction, which will still be underway. some COVID. 19 restrictions.

Lowe insisted he didn’t care, noting that his giant banner outside the Yonge St. shrine could hang another year.

“We have to enjoy the moment more,” said the five-time Cup winner in Edmonton, with one as a Ranger. “Everything is great, five of us are Canadians who got to play for the Canadian team. I’m not going in with a bunch of strangers. “

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Lowe, 62, and Wilson, 64, were among the most patients in a long list of Hall eligible that continues to grow. Lowe was overshadowed by members of the Hall of Oilers, including Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, and Glen Sather.

“Ten years ago or every time the (voting) list came up and you didn’t see your name, you thought you probably weren’t going to get in. I was okay with that, but for some reason I’m here and take it. “

ELDER INPUT HELPS IGINLA
Iginla’s thoughts turned to her late grandfather, Rick Schuchard, who encouraged her athletic career in Edmonton after her parents separated.

“Amazing man, with whom I spent a lot of time after school. My mom said I had too much energy, breaking things at home. So I played various sports and he always made sure that I could play.

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“It was intense, but never with me. The way he released it was (screeching) if the other team received a penalty. He screamed ‘crime doesn’t pay’ and all that. He was a fan favorite on our team, but a bit embarrassing for me. As I got older, I appreciated it more.

“Once we had a big summer tournament in Vancouver, we drove there and to get back for the Canadian Western Baseball Finals, we drove from Vancouver straight to Brandon, Manitoba, me sleeping in a Hyundai hatchback. I would have liked to fly, but it was amazing. “

KIM STAYS
As a child, goalkeeper Kim St. Pierre lost her first game, 8-0, to the delight of parents.

They had agreed that he could leave figure skating in Chateauguay, Que., For hockey, but disapproved of his goal play with the time and related expenses.

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“They were probably high-fives after that game, saying ‘we’re done with this,” laughed St. Pierre, the decorated Olympian and hero of the 2002 gold medal match against the United States.

“But they saw how sad I was. That triggered something in them to give me another chance.

“My second game was a little better and I never looked back.”

ROOM MONITORING
Hossa, who won the 2010 Cup with Chicago, his first of three as a Blackhawk, was interviewed as part of the independent Kyle Beach investigation, but didn’t want to add much on Friday. “I told the investigator, we didn’t know anything in that room.”… St. Pierre’s friends Hayley Wickenheiser and Danielle Goyette are with Maple Leafs in player development, part of an expanding world of women’s hockey. “Every time I hear a woman being asked to work in the NHL, it’s amazing,” said St. Pierre, 42, “as long as you get hired for the right reasons. Women have done a lot for the game and they know it ”… When Wilson received his ring, he noticed a picture on the wall of the Great Hall looking at him was his first roommate in Chicago, the late Stan Mikita. “Everything I needed, I got it,” Wilson said. “I was basically the age of one of his sons and I was hanging out at his house.”