The NHL offseason began nearly four months ago on June 15. Since then, fans of the Detroit Red Wings have seen their captain request a trade, their general manager step down, the team trade away their top goaltending prospect and the organization hire an outside firm to conduct a GM search.
Steve Yzerman stepped down from his role on July 15, a month after the NHL season concluded. The Red Wings have had nearly two months to find his replacement. The fans, on the other hand, have received a whole lot of nothing in terms of communication from the organization. CEO and owner Chris Ilitch has yet to host a press conference regarding the search. The team hasn't provided any updates, other than sources confirming that Shawn Horcoff is out of the race.
Now, there are rumors that the front office didn't even bother to follow up with candidates they requested to interview.
Worst of all, training camp is set to begin on September 17 -- less than a week away.
This lack of communication is an insult to the fans who have cheered on this franchise through its darkest decade in a long time.
The Red Wings need to release a statement as soon as possible.
The front office needs to share its plan
The team has had all offseason to formulate a plan moving forward. They've had plenty of goodwill to remain tight-lipped, playing their cards close to their chest. But that grace period is over. The organization needs to answer for its baffling lack of transparency. There needs to be signs of a concrete plan. Even if it's a boilerplate "we're working on finding the right candidate", fans deserve to know something about how the sausage is made.
The only other organization to fumble its public relations to this level is the Cleveland Browns of the NFL, who just can't seem to get out of their own way. Detroit's front office needs to look at itself in the mirror and decide if that's what they want. Do they want to be the Cleveland Browns of the NHL? Their prestigious history shows they're anything but that.
It's high time the Red Wings brass starts acting like a premier organization again.
Who to blame for the slow search
It's hard to determine where this failure falls. Does the failure fall on the search firm, turnkeyZRG, for taking this long to find the right candidate? Does it fall on Ilitch for failing to communicate the process with the fans? Perhaps it's a bit of both. Either way, someone needs to right the ship as soon as possible. There's no reason an Original Six organization - the most successful franchise in the United States - should go this long without an update for their fans.
The team has six days to go before training camp. Unless they can find a solution quickly, it's a disaster waiting to happen.
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