There is not a less popular person in Michigan these days than Detroit Red Wings (and Tigers) owner Chris Ilitch.
Not content to stop at a sternly worded letter of concern, Red Wings fans have followed their public rebuke of Chris Ilitch by circulating a Change.org petition urging the son of previous owners Mike and Marian Ilitch to sell the team.
The petition, started by Jeffrey Allor on September 30, is once again pointed in its criticism of the drop in status of the Red Wings under Chris’ watch:
“For the past decade, I've watched with mounting frustration as the Detroit Red Wings—a team with a storied past and a long-standing tradition of excellence—has struggled under the ownership of Chris Ilitch," the petition reads. "This isn't just about missed playoffs; it's about a legacy tarnished, a fanbase disheartened, and the slow degradation of a franchise that once stood as a pillar of the NHL.”
A season nobody is looking forward to
Following three March-collapse aided near playoff misses in a row, the fan base has little reason to believe in anything but a dip in the standings for the 2026-27 campaign. The now-former captain Dylan Larkin is out at least the first two games due to an “upper body injury” that coincidentally occurred shortly after reporting to training camp following a public trade request in the offseason. Top-pairing young defenseman Simon Edvinsson came to (and left) training camp without a contract. Worse still, the team still is without a permanent general manager following Steve Yzerman stepping down.
With the season beginning on Friday, the Red Wings appear to be rolling with free agent disappointments Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher as their top two center options in an Atlantic Division that appears to be the class of the NHL.
Ilitch has nobody to blame but himself
Owning a sports franchise allows one to stay insulated from criticism, but Ilitch clearly heard the noise when he sat down for a softball interview with Bob Wojnowski that was posted to the Detroit News and called the boiling fan resentment “amusing” in his custom made media appearance. He assured fans that his general managers have “full autonomy” despite reports to the contrary and that he cares deeply about the Red Wings. A team that, along with the MLB’s Detroit Tigers, own the NHL’s fourth-worst record since he took over for his father.
While it seems highly unlikely that Ilitch will actually sell the team, regardless of how many signatures say they don’t like the job he’s done, the Detroit fan base has not put up this level of fervor towards a front office since Lions games were routinely serenading previous owner William Clay Ford Jr. with “Fire Millen” chants and fan rallies.
It still took several seasons for that chant to become a reality and the Ford family still owns an improved version of the product.
Regardless, with the post mortem out on the “Yzerplan”'s shortcomings, the fans are irate at the continued botching of seemingly easy decisions and a lack of coherent plan in what is shaping up to be a miserable season at Little Caesar’s Arena.
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