One of Vernon's most celebrated hockey figures is leaving Alberta's most accomplished hockey team.
Ken Holland will not be returning to the NHL's Edmonton Oilers as general manager.
Oilers president of hockey operations Jeff Jackson said in a statement that "the Oilers and Ken Holland have mutually agreed that his contract will not be extended beyond the end of his current term." His current contract expires at the end of the league year in 2024.
The 68-year-old took over in 2019, which, at the time, the team had made the playoffs just once in 13 years.
Throughout his five years in charge, the Oilers made the playoffs every year, including a run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2023-24, where they lost to the Florida Panthers in Game 7.
Holland was responsible for free agent signings, such as Zach Hyman's seven year, $38.5 million dollar deal in 2021 and Jack Campbell's five-year, $25 million dollar deal.
"Thanks in large part to Ken's outstanding work, Edmonton has become a destination city for players around the NHL," Jackson said. "We wish his entire family the best."
Previously, Holland had been the executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings from 1997 to 2019, winning (four) Stanley Cups. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2021.
Holland grew up on 23rd Street of Vernon’s East Hill. He began skating at age six and put on his first pair of goalie pads two years later. The Vernon Vikings of the (then) B.C. Junior Hockey League was his first taste of competitive hockey.
He then played two seasons for the Medicine Hat Tigers, before spending eight years toggling back and forth from the AHL and NHL, playing four total games in the big leagues.
“Our parents taught us the importance of work ethic, sacrifice, treating people with respect as that’s how they lived their lives. They’re both gone but with me tonight,” said Holland, at his acceptance speech for the Hall of Fame in 2021.
He was awarded the Freedom of the City Award for Vernon in 2021.
