Ken Holland Quotations

My hope is that he can play similar to where he was a couple of years ago, ... I don't know that that's a realistic expectation starting this week.

My hope is that he ends up in a Red Wings uniform - however long it takes,

One reason I wanted Osgood is that he understands the expectations of playing here. Some people have struggled with those expectations and that pressure. Osgood understand that pressure and still wanted to be here.

One thing we can carry into the playoffs is the fact we've been so consistent. This team should feel good about what it accomplished.

My expectation is that Pavel will be back to play for us.

Obviously my hope is that he ends up in a Red Wings uniform. So however long it takes, hopefully, eventually, we'll get a word saying he's coming back.

Obviously, the sooner the better. But if it means we have to wait to get Pavel in our lineup I'll wait. At this stage of the game I don't think it's going to have any impact as to our eventual roster. We're not going to be able to go out and find a player that's close to Pavel. If you look at the open market, there's lots of players out there that we think could be third- or fourth-line players in the NHL. But he's (Datsyuk) a top six forward.

Obviously it's a disappointing loss. We were really counting on him.

If we have to wait, and it means we're going to get Pavel in our lineup -- I'll wait.

I have money set aside, ... They know where we're at. We are not negotiating. He just has to decide.

For me, that was our main goal (this season) to win the Central. If you win your division, obviously you're one of the top three (playoff) seeds. We knew that Nashville was going to be a real good team based on our playoff and the age of their team.

Getting him back is going to be big just because of his leadership on the ice, ... I think it's important that Steve gets playing to get his game where he wants it to be.

Given our recent history with groin injuries, they tend to take a little longer than you think. We've had players come back, feel OK, and then re-injure themselves.

From a player's perspective, they're looking for the best deal they can get because you can't renegotiate under the terms of the new CBA.

From a club's perspective, if a player doesn't reach your projections in terms of performance, it really will have a negative impact on your ability to compete in the future,

From a development standpoint, even just to practice every day with the pros, I think would help his development. We're going to send him into Grand Rapids and he'll be there through the end of the regular season. Then we'll make a decision whether he remains there for the playoffs or does he then go back home.

For us, it's one step on the journey.

I believe this isn't dead yet and there's a possibility Pavel could be in our lineup this year.

Chris has been a No. 1 goaltender wherever he's been while Manny has never been given that opportunity. In 2001, when they were teammates, Manny made a great case to be the next No. 1 guy, but we ended up signing Dominik Hasek and later Curtis Joseph . This is a great opportunity for both Manny and Chris, and they've had a good rapport in the past, so I'm sure it will be a healthy competition.

With Mathieu and Chris, I feel very good about our defense for this season. Mathieu had a great year for us in '03-04 and we tried to sign him last summer.

We're nowhere near a deal with either player. We've made a number of offers and they've made offers, but we still have a long way to go to reach deals.

We're obviously very happy that we got Pavel back. He's a talented young player that had a very good year for us two years ago, and we're hoping for more of the same. With the new rules, I think skilled players like Pavel are really going to be helped.

I looked online today. It appears to me he didn't play in the game.

If some of our older players can play close to the level they were at two years ago, we've got a chance to have a good team,

He has always had good game after good game while he has been there. But he's always been looked at as the No. 2 guy. He had never been given the opportunity to be the No. 1 guy.

He was a real tough coach back then, and my only question was, how would he handle the pros?

Hockey is a physical sport and injuries are an everyday part of our game. A key to our success is treating those injuries with the highest possible level of health care and that's what we receive from our team physicians at Detroit Medical Center.

His wife had their first child yesterday. A baby girl in Pittsburgh. So he's going to stay in Pittsburgh tomorrow. We're going to try and get him for the morning skate on Saturday.

Go find a house. You made the hockey team.

He's got good skill, and I think he gives our team depth, and maybe he'll surprise us. In the new world, you're going to have to have some players that are good bargains. At the worst, he'll be a good player for us in Grand Rapids and if we get into injury situations, he'll probably be a good guy to call up with his NHL experience.

He's got skill, and he gives us depth. He's a guy who could help us.

He's going to be in Detroit this weekend. When he arrives we expect him to sign the standard player's contract.

If I pay somebody a certain amount of money, ... everybody that walks into my office knows what I've paid. So if you pay too much for one player, you better be prepared to pay too much for seven players.

He does everything you look for in a defenseman. He's a tremendous talent.

He does so many different things for us,

There is going to be some activity around the league, whether there is going to be a lot depends on what happens (in the standings) over the next week. How many teams will fall far back enough out that they'll feel they are out (of the race)?

He has some ACL and MCL damage, ... He's going to be examined Friday, and we'll know more about his status after we get some more opinions.

He has some damage. He's going to be examined Friday and we'll know more about his status after we get some more opinions.

Helm has some speed, and May showed poise with the puck. As late-round draft picks they're young guys who have to get stronger, but they played well.

Pavel and Hank are two young players who are very, very important to our franchise. In Hank's case, he's really coming into the prime of his career. I'm happy he made a long-term commitment; basically we bought ourselves one year of unrestricted free agency.

Pavel signed a contract with Omsk, ... and then another team, Moscow Dynamo, matched it. His agent has told me ... there's no out clause in the contract. Obviously, it's a matter now of Pavel negotiating ... to see if there's a way that he can get out.

I think Steve is playing as well as he was five years ago for us.

Jamie hasn't really had an opportunity, and when he did have an opportunity, he didn't play nearly as well this year as he did in 2003-04 (before the lockout). We felt it was a little bit of an opportunity, maybe, for an upgrade.

Other than maybe two or three games right after the Olympic break, Manny has been very consistent, very solid the entire year. He has done a lot of winning for us.

Our scouts feel he is ready to play in the NHL. He established himself in the Swedish Elite League and their national program and we felt it was time to bring him over.

Our commitment is to remain an elite team. No question the playing field has been leveled (with the new collective bargaining agreement). We will do more research and development. We will add to our scouting staff.

Our feeling is, he'll be out for a period of time. Certainly, I don't anticipate him playing Thursday, for sure.

I think the Olympic camp was great for Steve,

I talked to (agent) Gary Greenstin Sunday afternoon and he said they need another week - they need more time to make their final decision,

We'll be a difficult team to play against.

We're very, very concerned heading into the new season, ... but I think it's a natural reaction. We haven't played hockey for a year. The standards and expectations remain very high.

We have two of the top six or seven goalies in the world and I want to be creative with a trade that makes sense for both teams and is financially sound for both teams. It might take more than two teams, whether it's a three-team deal or something else.

Mikael has been a key player throughout this season and earned the opportunity to stay in Detroit. I'm happy to have him signed and to be able to keep in him a Red Wings jersey for the next three seasons.

Mike Babcock is going to make everybody accountable every day because none of them have a track record with him. He's going to respect the resumes, but he also wants to see what they bring to the table now because that's what is most important.

We were looking for a guy in the third pairing that can be safe, solid and steady. That's Cory's calling card.

We've had great success, and Europeans have been a big part of that. When Scotty put together the Russian Five, that was really the start of the Red Wings we see today. I think it even had an impact on how we developed our drafting philosophy and scouting philosophy.

We've got some more people at training camp we're looking at, but nobody major.

There are some things that we know, ... We know our nucleus. They know the league. They know how to win. We've got a proud bunch of players. That's a good start. The new CBA has been put into place to level the playing field, but you know what? At the end of 82 games, somebody has to be in first overall.

We start from scratch, but the history between Detroit and Edmonton is we've always had close games. Both teams are really built on speed and skill.

We like our nucleus, the core of young players we have. We'd like to build something here. We want to be in position to add in the future, when the ages of unrestricted free agency goes down.

We're near the cap. That limits the things you can do.

We think we have some good young legs. I think it's going to be more of a younger team. We're trying to find some veteran leadership and hopefully we can find that at the conclusion of the first round.

You have to bring something to the lineup,

Whenever this gets done, there's going to have to be a long healing process with fans, management and players.

We've got a new coach in Mike Babcock, who has no preconceived notions about either guy. They're both in their early 30s and they both are on one-year contracts, so I expect a healthy competition and I hope in the end the team is the benefactor.

We're looking for a guy to play in the third pair. Be safe. Be solid. And that's really Cory's calling card.

We'd like to add some depth. We've identified some teams that may be willing to trade. We'll see if there's a fit.

When we got home today, we assessed his injury. We'll reassess him in seven to 10 days. Obviously, we'll only bring him back in the regular season if he is 100%.

Throughout his career, Steve has found ways to make a big play at a critical point,

With the new CBA, injuries are really going to take a toll on teams even more than before.

Cory is a real good person and he'll be good for our team chemistry. It's an opportunity for Cory. I can't tell you whether he'll be the sixth, or seventh or eighth defenseman, I can't tell you. That'll be decided over the next 20 games.

When you lose a guy like Pavel, ... you're losing a guy you're counting on for a lot of offense.

When you lose a guy like Pavel, you're losing a guy you're counting on for a lot of offense.

You hope nobody's involved. I don't know much.

I've called his cell number, the hotel. ... I've not gotten a hold of him.

Coming into the new cap world, it seemed like it was the right time to change, to bring in a coach who had new ideas, ... wasn't similar to Dave Lewis (in style). Players had to win this new coach over.

I stayed in touch for two reasons. If we didn't have Pavel, I wanted to make sure we had open communication for next year to get him back then. At the same time, I was also told by Gary that even though Pavel had signed a contract in Russia, his first desire was to be in Detroit. They were never saying it's a done deal.

I spoke to Pavel this morning. It's all confirmed. He's coming back. We certainly feel like we've won the lottery.

The rollback allowed us to keep more of our nucleus.

We've probably lost about five key players from the teams we were successful with, but we still have a lot of our nucleus together. I think teams like Nashville and Columbus are going to be closer to us with the new CBA. But I still think we have the potential to compete for the conference title and if you're doing that, you've got a chance to reach the goals everyone around here has for this franchise.

We wanted to be one of the top three seeds. We knew Nashville was going to be a real good team, and after the first 45-50 games they were ahead of us, but our guys have really stuck to it.

We've had talks with both and it's an ongoing process.

Even though they're older players, if they can play like they did two years ago, they're going to help us a lot.

A lot of us are in the same position, there's not much money to spend.

Ten days ago it was looking like we would have to go without Pavel. All of a sudden to hear he's going to be here, again, it's a great addition.

This time of year everybody gets anxious to know who your opponent is. Now we know who our opponent is, and we can go about the process of preparing for them. It gives both teams an extra couple of days to prepare for your opposition. We've been watching them. I'm sure they've been watching us live and on tape.

This is a big stretch for us. We saw what happened to San Jose last year when they got off to a slow start and what happened to Dallas two years ago. The Western Conference is so close that if you get too far behind the pack ...

I've had some talks with Andreas and his agent. Andreas played very well for us. My feeling would be we would like to have him back next year. He's really solid, gives us size, he's a good penalty killer, and that was a tremendous blocked shot last night. He's been a pleasant surprise.

I negotiated from May 2004 to early September 2004 with them and we were so far apart at that point in time that I guess I was figuring if we picked up where we left off we were a long ways apart, ... We'll see what happens.

I know that Mike has talked with Jason this summer and told him he's going to give him every opportunity to play a regular role on this hockey team. The rest is up to Jason. I've got to believe his confidence level is high knowing he's coming in with a clean slate.

I'm very pleased to have Steve re-sign for another season with the Red Wings. I'm confident that he has a lot of great hockey left to play.

I have some serious discussions with a couple clubs,

I'm really happy that we got a deal done because we always wanted Henrik to remain on our team. He's a young player who has shown he can produce in the NHL, and yet there's room for him to grow.

If you are a Red Wing, and you see how hard Steve works to be successful, you can't help but give it your best effort.

I'm not concerned, but the closer we get to Sept. 12, I will be.

Talking to other general managers, I do expect there to be (player) movement. There are enough teams not in contention, they will be selling.

Not really; they just need more time to make their decision. Obviously my hope is he ends up in a Red Wing uniform. However long it takes, hopefully, eventually we'll get a word saying he's coming back.

Dave's relationship with half our team -- and it was the core half -- had really been cemented as the assistant coach. I thought it was important to bring in someone with a different type of personality.

I want Steve to play this year. I still think he's got some great hockey in him.

I just felt that it was appropriate to wait until the end of the season with Manny. Obviously, our hopes and expectations are to go all the way this spring. But when the season's over, I'll sit down and evaluate.