Fans chanted “sell the team” at both home games to open the season, and Dylan Larkin got booed during introductions. On Monday, Chris Ilitch answered with a letter on LinkedIn. The team is 1-2, its top-pair defenseman is in Sweden, and, after reading the letter several times, it just gets worse each time.
This, by far, is the worst part about the letter, though:
“I get it and certainly feel the same”
That’s a bold line. Ilitch is the governor and CEO of this franchise. He decides who runs it and when they stop. Fans can’t hire a general manager or fire one, and he can do both. Telling everyone he shares their frustration casts him as a spectator at his own team, and it reads as disingenuous coming from the one person in Detroit with literally any authority to fix it.
He wrote that Hockeytown showed up on opening night. It did, kind of. And the ones who did chanted for him to sell the team. He says he enjoyed visiting with fans before the game. If you were a fan that enjoyed talking to Chris on opening night, raise your hand. I would love to know why.
Grind Line Podcast co-host Ryan was there. He said he has never seen more empty seats at a home opener, and he found upper-level tickets for under $100. This summer I priced two lower-bowl seats at more than $500 after fees. When Larkin’s name hit the screen, the production crew cut to music to drown out the boos. Fans brought signs calling for a sale, at least one fan wore a bag on his head, and Ryan remembers only one Larkin jersey in the building that hadn’t been crossed out or covered.
But sure, Chris. Go off about how you “get it”.
Grit and determination
The letter compares the Red Wings to the city of Detroit, saying both have met difficult challenges with “grit and determination.” Detroit earned that phrase through real hardship. This franchise earned its current problems through a string of terrible decisions made over the summer by none other than Chris Ilitch’s office. Borrowing the city’s credibility to describe a self-inflicted mess is completely disingenuous.
What the letter leaves out
The letter never mentions Steve Yzerman’s removal or the status of the GM search, and it skips the chants entirely. Here is what the organization looks like while that silence continues.
Sergei Fedorov shakes hands with Steve Yzerman during his jersey retirement ceremony at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Ilitch let Yzerman run the draft and free agency, then moved him out on July 15. A search firm followed, and it took two months to name an interim GM who had been doing the job the whole time. Chris Johnston reported that the first contract offer to Simon Edvinsson did not arrive until September 17, two days after Horcoff got the interim title. Edvinsson, a 23-year-old top-pair defenseman, is now training in Sweden and reportedly asking for a trade. The captain asked out and lost the C, then got booed on opening night.
A team already ten years removed from the playoffs became a punchline in a single offseason, and ownership’s fingerprints are on nearly all of it.
The only language he might hear
The team is giving two free tickets to anyone who signs up for DSN and emailing fans to push quarter-season packages. I hope sales stay down. Ilitch has shown no sign of responding to anything except money, and an empty arena on television is the kind of picture that moves sponsors and advertisers.
A slap in the face of the fans
He posted on LinkedIn. Fans talk on X and Threads. His one lengthy interview this fall, with Bob Wojnowski, produced a single real headline: the search won’t be rushed and could run past this season. He has yet to sit in front of a full media scrum. A professional networking site is where people announce promotions and post job listings; choosing it for this message reads like something written for investors.
Mike Ilitch spent decades building goodwill with this fan base, and his son has burned through a large share of it in one offseason. Words only count when actions back them up. Sign Simon Edvinsson and name a general manager. Until then, “I get it” costs him nothing, and fans are left picking up the tab for everything else.
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