Jim Devellano

Jim Devellano (born January 18, 1943 in Toronto , Ontario ) is a Canadian ice hockey and baseball official . He held various positions with the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings ice hockey teams in the National Hockey League , with whom he won the Stanley Cup seven times . He is currently Senior Vice President of the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers .

Career

Jim Devellano himself had never played hockey, but in 1967 it became the just established franchise of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League as a scout. During his time in St. Louis, he worked with coaches Al Arbor and Scotty Bowman , among others .

In 1972 Devellano moved to the New York Islanders , who were before their first season in the NHL. There, too, he took over the job as a scout, but also had an influence on the then General Manager of the Islanders Bill Torrey . When a new coach was sought in 1973, it was Devellano who suggested Al Arbor. The team rose surprisingly quickly to a candidate for the Stanley Cup under Arbor . In 1979 Devellano took over the post of General Manager of the CHL farm team of the Islanders in Indianapolis and led the team until 1981. The New York Islanders had won the Stanley Cup in 1980 and 1981 and Devellano returned to the team in 1981 and became assistant to the General Manager Bill Torrey. Under her leadership, the team also won the third of four Stanley Cups in 1982.

In 1982 the Detroit Red Wings NHL team was bought by Mike Ilitch and Jim Devellano was the first person he hired in the summer of 1982. He was given the post of general manager, but the situation in Detroit was incomparable to that of the Islanders. Detroit had been one of the best teams in the NHL in the 1950s, but was degenerated into a gray mouse in the ice hockey business in the 1960s and 1970s due to persistent failures and was nicknamed "Detroit Dead Wings". Mike Ilitch had hired Devellano to lead the team back to the successes of previous years.

The 1982/83 season did not turn around, but in the summer of 1983 Devellano was to make a decision that would have a decisive effect on the future of the Red Wings. In the 1983 NHL Entry Draft he showed all the experience he had gained as a talent scout and selected 18-year-old Steve Yzerman with the first draft pick in his career as General Manager of the Red Wings . Yzerman showed his skills in his first season and was one of the best young stars in the NHL in the mid-1980s.

In 1984 Devellano expanded the Red Wings' scouting system and sent scouts to Europe to watch players there too. At that time, Europeans weren't part of every team in the NHL, which is why this decision by GM was seen as particularly innovative. And this step should also bear fruit when the Red Wings were able to sign promising talents such as Sergei Fjodorow , Slawa Koslow , Wladimir Konstantinow or Nicklas Lidström via the Entry Draft in the coming years .

By the late 1980s, the Red Wings had re- established themselves in the playoffs and were led by Steve Yzerman, who was now the team's captain and one of the NHL's superstars.

In the summer of 1990, Devellano gave up his job as general manager to Bryan Murray and became Senior Vice President of Red Wings. In the following years, the team qualified for the playoffs every year, but there was no progress for the ambitious leadership of the Red Wings, so that in 1993 a new coach was hired with Scotty Bowman. Devellano was a major contributor to Bowman's commitment, having worked together in St. Louis in the late 1960s and having had great successes separately over the past 25 years.

In 1994, Devellano returned to the post of general manager, before he finally achieved his intended goal in 1997 and the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup again after 42 years, which was accepted by captain Steve Yzerman. After this success Ken Holland , who had gained experience as an assistant to Devellano for a number of years, took over the job as General Manager, Devellano concentrated again on his work as Senior Vice President.

In 2001, Devellano was named vice president of the Detroit Tigers baseball team , also owned by Mike Ilitch.

Devellano has now won 14 championship rings. In addition to the seven Stanley Cup rings , he received three Calder Cup rings and a Riley Cup ring from the championships of the AHL and ECHL farm teams in Detroit and two Adams Cup rings from the CHL farm teams in New York Islanders. There is also a ring in baseball after winning the American League championship with the Detroit Tigers.

In his career as general manager, Devellano acted according to his motto that the foundation for a good team with a very good scouting system and correct decisions in the entry draft is laid. The best example he had provided with his election in 1983 of Steve Yzerman, who played for the Red Wings for 23 years, was their team captain for 20 years, is considered one of the best players in NHL history and who is the team of three Stanley Cup victories.

In 2010 he was honored with the induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame .

Others

Several general managers matured under Devellano's leadership. Ken Holland inherited him from the Red Wings and Darcy Regier from the Buffalo Sabers and Don Waddell from the Atlanta Thrashers also learned from him.

Achievements and Awards

• 1980 Stanley Cup win with the New York Islanders (as general manager of the farm team )
• 1981 Stanley Cup win with the New York Islanders (as general manager of the farm team)
• 1982 Stanley Cup win with the New York Islanders (as Assistant General Manager)
• 1997 Stanley Cup win with the Detroit Red Wings (as General Manager)
• 1998 Stanley Cup win with the Detroit Red Wings (as Senior Vice President)
• 2002 Stanley Cup win with the Detroit Red Wings (as Senior Vice President)
• 2006 American League Championship with the Detroit Tigers (as Senior Vice President)
• 2008 Stanley Cup win with the Detroit Red Wings (as Senior Vice President)

literature

• Jim Devellano and Roger Lajoie: The Road to Hockeytown : Jimmy Devellano's Forty Years in the NHL . Wiley, 2008, ISBN 978-0-470-15552-3 .

Web links

• Biography on the Detroit Red Wings homepage
• Jim Devellano in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)