Mike Ilitch Voted Best Owner in NHL

[McCartyFanForLife 17]

I think we can all agree on this.

Mike Ilitch Voted Best Owner

[Ms_Hockey 0]

Entirely deserved!

Three cheers for Mr. Ilitch!

[Dimaline312000 51]

Absolutley the best Owner in the NHL and maybe the best in Sports.

[Guest mindfly]

What else is new?

[Mors 201]

No shock here

[TheWestWing 71]

No argument but do keep in mind that there is a list somewhere that has Lil Sleazors as the best pizza in all the land.

So in general lists are worthless but hey, don't let me stop you.

[Electrophile 3,554]

Can't disagree with this. The stuff he's done over the years to reach out to former players, the community and also to keep current players here for the duration of their careers is the kind of things you just don't see anymore, and that's sad.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

No argument but do keep in mind that there is a list somewhere that has Lil Sleazors as the best pizza in all the land.

So in general lists are worthless but hey, don't let me stop you.

Well hello there, buzzkill.

[McCartyFanForLife 17]

I love how the Leafs' owner(s) were named the worst in the NHL.

[puckloo39 5,686]

without a doubt, we're so lucky to have the Ilitches as owners. They truly love this team and the players.

[wingedone 0]

No argument but do keep in mind that there is a list somewhere that has Lil Sleazors as the best pizza in all the land.

So in general lists are worthless but hey, don't let me stop you.

Hey! That is lovingly known as "Little Creatures".

But I still like the pizza and am thrilled to have an owner so different than WC Ford.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

Cue OsGod to complain about "Mr. Moneybags".

IMHO, he's the best owner in all of professional sports. Not only does he pay whatever it takes to make his franchise successful, the guy takes care of every single one of his "employees" like they're family. Point-and-case: Getting one of the Wings' trainers' sons into that private school.

[TheUkrainian 49]

Maybe I should send Mr. Illitch a letter regarding getting an internship with the Wings marketing staff...last 2 e-mails I sent to the person haven't relied to this day. lol

Illitch for Mayor?

[stevkrause 1,247]

Absolutley the best Owner in the NHL and maybe the best in Sports.

I say in all of sports, hands down, especially if you factor in the turn around he did for the Tigers...

[Electrophile 3,554]

No argument but do keep in mind that there is a list somewhere that has Lil Sleazors as the best pizza in all the land.

Especially when everyone knows the best pizza is from Chicago.

Giordano's FTW!!

[Broken 16 381]

No brainer...

[motorcitykid 42]

Just now when I think of Mike in my head I can't help but smile. It's like man-love!! A wonderful guy to speak to. And sooooooo awesome to have him as our owner!!

We are just too damn lucky !!!!

[Wombat 26]

I say in all of sports, hands down, especially if you factor in the turn around he did for the Tigers...

Be careful about lumping the Tigers into this. It took him 14 years to get that team in the playoffs and he played it pretty cheap for a lot of those years. And that includes the debacle that was the worst AL team in history in 2003.

He did do a lot of good things too, such as building CoPa and bringing Ernie Harwell back where he belongs. But there were lists that earlier this decade rated him as one of the best and one of the worst owners in NA pro sports.

*edit... I didn't want this to be as much of a wet blanket as it looks. I absolutely adore Illitch for everything he's done for the Red Wings and is currently doing for the Tigers. His loyalty is tremendous and he is running the Red Wings franchise as the model for all others. He has been great for us Wings fans.

Edited May 12, 2009 by Wombat

[NKYWingsFan 4]

It's sophmoric, but I'm still chuckling over Mr. Wang owning the Islanders.

"Everybody Wang Chung tonight..."

Congrats Mr. Ilitch.

[stevkrause 1,247]

Be careful about lumping the Tigers into this. It took him 14 years to get that team in the playoffs and he played it pretty cheap for a lot of those years. And that includes the debacle that was the worst AL team in history in 2003.

He did do a lot of good things too, such as building CoPa and bringing Ernie Harwell back where he belongs. But there were lists that earlier this decade rated him as one of the best and one of the worst owners in NA pro sports.

*edit... I didn't want this to be as much of a wet blanket as it looks. I absolutely adore Illitch for everything he's done for the Red Wings and is currently doing for the Tigers. His loyalty is tremendous and he is running the Red Wings franchise as the model for all others. He has been great for us Wings fans.

If you remember, the Wings were not turned around as soon as he took over either - Illitch is a master of finding the right people to put in place and letting them do their thing (Nill, Holland, etc...) sometimes you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet... (ie Skinner, Murray and Devellano to a lesser extent as the MAIN guy) it wasn't until Bowman came on board that things got truly turned around...

[wingslogo19 281]

Congrads to Mr. Illitch more than deserving

IMO I think that he's the best owner in all major sports

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Entirely deserved!

Three cheers for Mr. Ilitch!

Well deserved!

[marcaractac 3,963]

Well hello there, buzzkill.

That was more of a buzzkill than Buzzkillington

[bonan78 1]

Couldn't agree more. Of course, I work for #3 on the worst list, sorry Mr. Wang is a brilliant business man, but knows nothing about running a sports franchise, just look at his investment in Rick DiPietro, and sorry but the rumors about moving the team to Kansas City are only partly true, he never threatened to move the team out of New York, just to find a new arena somewhere else in the NY area if Nassau isn't fixed up. Much love to the Ilitch family, thanks for the Hot n' Ready, I love the Photoshop pic of Babcock that says "I can haz pizza for 5 bucks". Please Mr. Ilitch, buy the Lions from the Ford family and make them respectable again.

[EuroTwin 240]

I think the only proper response to this thread is:

Duuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh.

We are very lucky to have him.