RIP Mr. Illitch

[tsawchuk]

http://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...izza-red-wings-tigers-hockey-forbes/91475642/

Thank you for what you did.

 

[DetroitDevil]

RIP Mr. Illitch

Thanks For all the crazy bread and sauce! And all the stanley cups

 

[4thstreet]

And for the Tigers too!

 

[forty_three]

Wow, RIP Mr Mike.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Rip to the type of owner any sports teams fans would have loved to have

 

[dash]

Craig Custance echoes jstew's post above:

As good an owner as there was in the NHL, Mike Ilitch was a big part of many of these banners hanging in the Joe Louis Arena rafters.

 

[tsawchuk]

"Mr. I stands as one of America's greatest sports team owners. To have been able to work with him for more than 30 years and be a part of turning a struggling franchise into a champion again was an experience of a lifetime. His commitment to his team and our fans, is the reason we all feel a part of “Hockeytown”. He will be deeply missed by those of us who were fortunate enough to know him and call him a friend." - Ken Holland

Detroit Red Wings | Facebook

 

[RP-29]

Yup, definitely one of the greatest owners in professional sports history! Even more than that, he was a true difference maker! Not only a difference maker to his teams, but to the community, the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan, the United States of America and the world! He brought honor, integrity, humility, charity and good will wherever he went.

The man - at the very least - deserves to have an arena named after him!

 

[tsawchuk]

Earliest sports I think he did was Little Ceasers softball team. They played their games at...I think it was Memorial Park in East Detroit. He had scooped Cash & Northrup from the retirement pile. He wanted to win badly, & he did. It would've been easier to keep a BA of their home runs rather than hits, because they knocked the threads off the ball more often than not. Those games were always an entertaining evening for this Detroit boy.

Red Wings had tantalizing brief glimpses of their upcoming greatness in the late 80's. By the early 90's the Red Wings were perennial powerhouses, capable of winning the cup any year. All the haters about buying the cup.....well, the first 4 yrs I followed hockey, the Wings were in the finals 3 of them. It took almost 30 yrs. to return once, then two more until the first cup. I still have PTSD from the Dead Wing years.....frankly I didn't give a rats ass HOW those banners got to the rafters, just that they did & I was a very lucky boy in '97, I was at game 7. After the earlier years, I felt like I was in Nirvana....and since 1990 was.

Sorry that he never got a World Series ring....I know he wanted one badly, so do I. I'd like to see one more Series win before I wander to the happy hunting ground.

 

[SJ76]

RIP Mr. Pizza Pizza



I'll be getting one this weekend

 

[Wingingit]

I don't believe I could say it any better. Detroit lost a great man today.

“Our sport, our city, our team lost an incredible owner, leader today,” Holland said. “Not only was he committed to the Red Wings, he was committed to the city of Detroit. In the ‘80s, when many people were moving out of Detroit, he was moving his headquarters into Detroit, bought the Tigers and built Comerica Park and now the District Detroit, the rebirth of the city of Detroit that is ongoing is really a vision of Mr. Ilitch 30 years ago.”

 

[broncosmitty]

The son of immigrants, Husband of 62 years, father of 7, veteran of the US Marine Corps, professional baseball player(starting as a member of the Tigers farm system), born-raised and Died in Detroit.

Rest In Peace Mr. I.

 

[Voltaire26]

Earliest sports I think he did was Little Ceasers softball team. They played their games at...I think it was Memorial Park in East Detroit. He had scooped Cash & Northrup from the retirement pile. He wanted to win badly, & he did. It would've been easier to keep a BA of their home runs rather than hits, because they knocked the threads off the ball more often than not. Those games were always an entertaining evening for this Detroit boy.

Red Wings had tantalizing brief glimpses of their upcoming greatness in the late 80's. By the early 90's the Red Wings were perennial powerhouses, capable of winning the cup any year. All the haters about buying the cup.....well, the first 4 yrs I followed hockey, the Wings were in the finals 3 of them. It took almost 30 yrs. to return once, then two more until the first cup. I still have PTSD from the Dead Wing years.....frankly I didn't give a rats ass HOW those banners got to the rafters, just that they did & I was a very lucky boy in '97, I was at game 7. After the earlier years, I felt like I was in Nirvana....and since 1990 was.

Sorry that he never got a World Series ring....I know he wanted one badly, so do I. I'd like to see one more Series win before I wander to the happy hunting ground.

I was at a lot of those games!! GREAT TEAM!!!!!

 

[DetroitDevil]

"Mike was a great citizen of our country, a self-made man with talent, drive, and a huge heart," Bush said in a statement. "My favorite memories with Mike are of our discussions about our shared love, baseball. Another of Mike's passions was his beloved Detroit. He generously gave back to his city and made it a better place. Most of all, Mike loved his family a lot."

My mother worked for him at the 2nd little ceasars, back when there were only 2. Never heard anyone say anything negative about the man... Until someone mentioned "love him or hate him", really? Who hated Mike Illitch?

 

[tsawchuk]

I was at a lot of those games!! GREAT TEAM!!!!!

I was one of the guys swilling Molsons while twisting. Remember?

 

[mattola]

RIP to a true hockey man

 

[Chris p Bacon]

great owner, did a heck of a lot to keep his teams relevant and super competitive, Too bad he's not the model for all.

 

[Wamu]

RIP. He did alotta great things for the city of Detroit. He'll be missed.

 

[jayfan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brendan Shanahan, Maple Leafs President &amp; Alternate Governor, released the following statement on the passing of Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch <a href="https://t.co/ctuRoFt563">pic.twitter.com/ctuRoFt563</a></p>&mdash; Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) <a href="">February 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[RobBase]

RIP. Created two of the greatest franchises in sports.