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Post by franko on Feb 10, 2017 22:37:04 GMT -5
Mike Ilitch, the pizza baron who acquired two moribund Detroit sports teams and turned them into perennial successes, has died at the age of 87.
Family spokesman Doug Kuiper said Ilitch died Friday at a hospital in Detroit.
The Ilitches purchased the Detroit Red Wings in 1982 for US$8 million from the Norris family. The team has not missed the playoffs since the 1990-91 season, a streak of 25 years, although it appears it will come to an end this season. In that span, the Red Wings won four Stanley Cups (1997, 1998, 2002, 2008) and made two other finals.
“Mr. and Mrs. Ilitch are incredibly passionate about Detroit and their teams,” Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told The Associated Press in a 2010 interview. “They create a family atmosphere with stability, loyalty and a personal touch. But we all understand we have to produce to be around for a long time.”the rest, from the NP
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Post by franko on Feb 10, 2017 22:38:06 GMT -5
crassness stops me from suggesting something like "the way the Wings played this year did him in".
oh wait . . . no it doesn't.
condolences to his family.
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Post by jkr on Feb 16, 2017 8:47:22 GMT -5
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