Remembering Mr. Ilitch – Part Two: From Dead Things to the Pride of Hockeytown
By Cam Lewis
7 years ago
© Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
This is part of a three-part series recognizing and reminiscing on the impact that Mike Ilitch had on both the Detroit Red Wings and the city of Detroit as a whole.
If you’re a Detroit Red Wings fan, you likely owe many of your best memories to Mike Ilitch.
Though their dynasty is running on its final legs, the Wings had an unprecedented series of success, qualifying for the playoffs 25 seasons in a row — a streak unmatched in major North American professional sport.
It’s difficult to remember a time in which the Wings weren’t good. I mean, if you were born in the 1990s or later, it’s impossible. But that wasn’t always the case. For a period of time that matches the length of their dominant years, the Wings were the laughing stock of the NHL.
Mr. Ilitch’s investment, commitment to winning, and strong leadership turned the Dead Things into the Red Wings that won four Stanley Cups, saw multiple Hall of Fame careers, and captured the imagination of the City of Detroit for an entire generation.
A major change in the NHL’s landscape in the mid-1960’s brought the Red Wings dynasty that saw seven Stanley Cups and eighteen Cup Final appearances during the Original Six era to an end.
Back in the good old days, the Wings (and the other five teams) were able to get players to commit to playing for them as early as their 16th birthday. A strong Red Wings scouting system landed them names like Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio, Sid Abel, Ted Lindsay, and Terry Sawchuk that made up the core of their dynasty days.
But beginning in 1963, any player between the ages of 18 and 20 was eligible to be drafted. As a result, the Wings couldn’t go into the small towns of southern Ontario and find teenagers to commit to being a part of Detroit’s well oiled machine. Throughout the 60’s and 70’s, the Wings struggled at the draft. The only notable player they selected was Marcel Dionne with the second choice in 1971, but he was traded to the Kings after just four seasons with the club.
A few years later, the league doubled in size, throwing another wrench in Detroit’s traditional success. The Los Angeles Kings, California Seals, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and St. Louis Blues joined the league and became the “West Division”, while the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, and Red Wings, then, formed the East Division.
As a result of splitting the league in half, new franchises and the old, established ones, the East was significantly stronger than the West. Couple that with the front office having to adapt to a completely new method of recruiting and developing talent, the Red Wings got buried behind dominant Canadiens and Bruins squads, and only managed to qualify for the playoffs twice over the span of two decades.
The went from the Red Wings, the machine that boasted Mr. Hockey and The Production Line, consistent contender and second-to-none developer of talent, to the listless Dead Things, who struggled to bring fans to the arena.
This was likely the lowest point for the Red Wings in franchise history. Like I said, they hadn’t seen any success in just about two decades, were struggling to develop talent internally, plowed their way through more than ten head coaches, and dropped immensely in value as nobody in Detroit was interested in watching a perennial loser.
Everything changed in 1982. Mike and Marian Ilitch, owners of the popular local pizza business Little Caesars purchased the Red Wings for a cool $8 million.
The Wings missed the playoffs in Ilitch’s first season of ownership, putting together a 21-44-15 record, which was fourth worst in the league. It was a dismal season, but it afforded the organization an opportunity to completely turn their fortunes around. At the 1983 NHL draft, a place where the Wings had struggled immensely, Ilitch and newly appointed general manager Jim Devellano were given his first opportunity to leave his mark on the organization.
The Red Wings came into the draft hoping to snag Pat LaFontaine, a local Michigan kid, but he was snagged by the Islanders, who had the third overall pick. With their prize off the table, the new Wings brass’ scouting prowess went to work, as they drafted a smallish, skilled centre from Peterborough of the Ontario Hockey League — Steve Yzerman.
This is when the Wings’ fortunes began to change. Ilitch poured money into the team, allowing Devellano to spend money on scouting and a strong minor league system. It took time to rebuild one of the worst organizations in hockey over the past few decades, but under Ilitch’s leadership, the draft became an area of strength that would feed the franchise star players for years.
Over the next few years, Yzerman led the Wings to an improvement that saw them qualify for the playoffs in eight of the next ten seasons. During that time, though, the Wings stockpiled a considerable amount of talent through the draft. Names like Petr Klima, Bob Probert, Joe Murphy, Adam Graves, Mike Sillinger, Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Fedorov, Keith Primeau, Slava Kozlov, Chris Osgood, and Mike Knuble, were drafted and developed by the Wings over that decade, creating a pool of talent that would help push the Red Wings back to the top.
The final piece of the puzzle for the Ilitch-led Wings was Scotty Bowman, the legendary head coach who has won six Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens.
“Detroit was a different era for me because free agency had arrived in the NHL,” Bowman said. “A lot of people look at those Detroit teams and figure we bought most of the players, but we got a lot of the top players like Lidstrom and Fedorov and Yzerman through the draft.
“We had terrific ownership. We had a great season in ’95, followed up by that great 62-win season (in 1995-96), but we didn’t win the Cup either year. Then we won it in ’97. It just seemed that the team grew up. The younger players were then more than just rookies and there were a lot of good role players. It was strange, but we won three Cups with three different goalies. That was unusual for a team.”
The Wings reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1995, only to be swept by the New Jersey Devils. Ilitch continued to invest in the team, upping the team’s budget to acquire all-star goaltender Mike Vernon and completing the Russian Five by trading for Igor Larionov and Slava Fetisov. The following season, Ilitch opened up the wallet again to acquire former 50-goal scorer Brendan Shanahan, and defenceman Larry Murphy.
Then, finally, the Wings snapped what was, at the time, the longest Stanley Cup drought at 42 years by sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers in the Cup Final. With the same group returning the following season, the Wings repeated as Stanley Cup Champions.
Over the next three seasons, the Wings posted dominant seasons but were halted in the playoffs by the equally-dominant Colorado Avalanche, who were enjoying success build from many years of disappointment spent as the Quebec Nordiques. Ilitch one again opened up the wallet, allowing Devellano to acquire Norris and Vezina Trophy winners, Chris Chelios and Dominik Hasek via trade and sign elite snipers Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille as free agents to re-tool the team. The result was a legendary 51-17-10 2001-02 season that ended in a Stanley Cup win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Wings suffered two major playoff disappointments. First in 2003, getting swept in the first round to the seventh seeded Anaheim Ducks, and later in 2006, as their best regular season in franchise history ended at the hands of the Cinderella Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs. This also saw the end of many famous Red Wings careers. Steve Yzerman retired in 2006, while Brendan Shanahan, Sergei Fedorov, Dominik Hasek, and Brett Hull left the team in free agency.
Still, though, a strong crop of talent remained, as Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, who had been drafted and developed with the team, slowly took on the key roles left by the previous generation. The Wings would win one more Cup in 2008, captained by Nicklas Lidstrom, and reached the Final in the following season, before slowly beginning a decline to where they are now.
“It starts with our owner, and it’s not like I see him every day,” Mike Babcock, who coached the team from 2005-06 to 2014-15 said. “Our owner treats your family great and is very demanding. He expects you to have success, period.
“He wants you to be in every day and he wants you to work. That goes from the GM to the coach to the players, from the minor-league team, to the rink to the scouting staff. He sets the tone that way, the expectations are high and we’re proud of that.”
Throughout this era, spurred by Ilitch’s ability to recognize talent, foster a strong sense of community within the Red Wings organization, and a continued financial investment, the Wings saw 25-consecutive playoff appearances and four Stanley Cups — arguably the most impressive dynasty in NHL history.
Ilitch managed to acquire, either through the draft, trade, or free agency, multiple Hall of Famers. Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Dominik Hasek, Chris Chelios, Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Luc Robitaille, Brett Hull, Larry Murphy, Paul Coffey, Slava Fetisov, and, eventually, Pavel Datsyuk represent an unprecedented amount of talent to play for an organization over the span of one dynasty.
It was a machine that kept spinning, producing incredible teams, Hall of Fame careers, and Cup Champions that were the envy of the entire league, and at the top of all of it was Mr. I.
Next Friday in Part Three, I’ll take a look at how Mr. Ilitch’s legacy will continue to live on in the city of Detroit after his passing.
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