Jimmy D shows his Spirit
When Little Caesars pizza baron Mike Ilitch bought the Detroit Red Wings back in 1982, one of his first moves was to hire Jimmy Devellano as general manager of what was then a downtrodden National Hockey League franchise.
Devellano headed to Detroit after being part of three Stanley Cup championship teams with the New York Islanders as their director of scouting. And “Jimmy D” — as he is fondly called — wasted little time in restoring pride to the Red Wings organization through shrewd drafting and trading.
Now the Red Wings senior vice president, Devellano has remained in the employ of the Ilitch family.
In all, Devellano has seven Stanley Cup championship rings — three with the Islanders and four with the Red Wings.
And now, still going strong at age 73 and maintaining his ties to the Red Wings, Devellano — who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010 — has undertaken a new venture by joining the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League as a minority owner and advisor.
Devellano joins Spirit founder and majority owner Dick Garber and managing partner Craig Goslin among the Saginaw ownership group.
Goslin said the Spirit is “honoured to welcome Jimmy into our ownership group.
“He has been one of my mentors for many years and it is great to now have Jim as a partner,” Goslin added. “His experience, wisdom, and passion for the Spirit and unique vision of the game makes him very valuable as he advises and assists us to build the culture of a championship contender in Saginaw. Jim knows what the right culture looks like as he and (general manager) Ken Holland have been the architects of the Red Wings 25-year playoff run.”
Devellano’s role with the Spirit will include advising Garber, Goslin, and second-year general manager Dave Drinkill. And similar to his role with the Red Wings, Devellano will serve as an alternate governor in Saginaw, representing the Spirit at OHL board of governors meetings.
The Spirit is celebrating its 15th season in the OHL this 2016-2017 campaign, having relocated to Saginaw in 2002 when Garber bought the erstwhile North Bay Centennials and moved them to mid Michigan.
They should consider retiring Terry Trafford’s number #16 for the upcoming season. I’ve lost some respect for the organization because of the way the team handled the disappearance. It looks like his number was discontinued, but the team needs to remember him as a player who gave four years of his junior career to the Saginaw Spirit.
I am regaining some respect for the organization from not issuing #16 last season and hiring Spencer Carbery as head coach and Jim Devellano as GM.
Ryan,
Jimmmy Devellano is not the GM in Saginaw. He’s a minority owner and advisor. Read the story again.
My apologies Randy Russon, I think I was over-tired last night and didn’t read the story carefully. Keep the good stories coming.
No need to apologize, Ryan, just pointing out what I did FYI. Thanks for the nice words.
Why the old Centennials folded has been beaten to death over the years since but one reason which isn’t talked about much is the offer made in 2001 by then majority owner Ted Thomson to build a new 5,000-seat arena near North Bay’s waterfront. It wouldn’t have cost taxpayers a dime since it was to be privately financed and operated by Thomson’s group but council of the day voted it down. Why a northern community would turn down the chance at no-cost economic development is beyond me, but one certain result was that the negative vote certainly hastened the sale of the club to Garber.