Ilitch's big-time spending has Stanley Cup write-off
Associated Press
DETROIT -- Mike Ilitch didn't score a goal, make a check or stop a shot, yet the Detroit Red Wings probably would not have won their third Stanley Cup in six years -- and the 10th in franchise history -- if the owner hadn't opened his checkbook last summer.
Ilitch had two choices -- restock or rebuild -- after Detroit followed its consecutive Stanley Cups in 1997 and '98 with three straight early exits in the playoffs.
He chose to go for another Cup.
Ilitch gave general manager Ken Holland permission to make a blockbuster trade with Buffalo for goaltender Dominik Hasek, who wanted $8 million for a one-year commitment. Then he gave free agent forward Luc Robitaille $4 million for the season.
Then, despite being over his own budget, Ilitch dug deeper into his fortune to give Brett Hull $9 million over two years.
With a slew of all-stars already in place, the NHL's oldest team had the largest payroll at $65 million and Cup-or-bust expectations from outside and within.
"It was a big gamble, to be honest,'' Ilitch said during the postgame celebration Thursday night after Detroit eliminated Carolina in Game 5. "I had no business taking Hull at the end of the summer, but I always wanted him. We had everything all figured out after trading for Hasek and signing Robitaille, that was going to be it. But my heart told me to go for it.
"And this one was a little bigger than the other two Cups because I don't think a lot of people were pulling for us because we had the biggest payroll in the league.''
Playing for the Red Wings is like playing for the New York Yankees, Hull said.
"They're not striving to be a team here, they're here to be champions,'' Hull said before rattling off names of former and current Red Wing greats. "From Howe, Delvecchio, Lindsay and Sawchuk to Yzerman, Shanahan, Fedorov and Lidstrom and Chelios, it's been a special organization.''
Hull said there's another comparison that can be made between the Yankees and Red Wings -- both have owners who aren't afraid to spend money to win championships.
"For him to have the faith in us to do what he did and for us to come through, that's what sports is all about,'' Hull said. "That's what you want in ownership. You want an owner who wants to win. There's a lot of teams with payrolls close to us, that didn't win. You can't put together a great team without a big payroll. Great players demand great money, that's just the way it is.''
Ilitch realized he was close to "crapping out'' on his gamble when Vancouver stunned the Red Wings by winning the first two games of the first round of the playoffs.
"I was concerned,'' Ilitch admitted.
The Red Wings eased his concerns by winning the next four games, and then taking four of five against St. Louis before being a part of the matchup all hockey fans wanted to see -- Detroit and Colorado in the Western Conference finals.
It was a series Ilitch, who is losing money on the Detroit Tigers and Comerica Park, needed to bolster his bank account.
"We had to get through the second round to at least break even on the investment Mr. I made,'' Holland said.
Holland could not feel good about the moves he made with Ilitch's money until the Stanley Cup was hoisted.
"I think the biggest feeling for me is relief,'' Holland said. "When we headed down the path we did last summer, we knew that we would be second-guessed if we finished with anything less than a Stanley Cup. It was a gamble and thankfully, it paid off.''
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