Interview with Denise Ilitch
At the time of this interview, Denise Ilitch was the Red Wings Alternate Governor and the owner’s daughter. However after the end of the 2003-2004 season, she stepped down from her position.
Christy: In 1993, you founded the Lovelight Foundation. Before that you had been actively involved with charities, what made you decide to create your own
Ilitch: “I was with two of my girlfriends, who are very generous, and we decided that we wanted to help children in need, particularly those in Detroit because they are very in need, very underserved, poverty level is very high in Detroit, and kids are very hungry. And we were on a trip together with a bunch of women, and I think I had said “wow, what if we put all of our resources together how much power we would have.†And we started talking about it and that was when we said “you know we should start a foundation with all the resources that we have in this room and see if we can make an impact.†So we did and we made great programs like building a playground for kids in the city and we helped with dental needs where kids would get their teeth checked. We helped other programs that helped kids like the Starfish Family Services. We also raised a lot of money for kids, so it was really cool.”
Christy: What is your role with the Red Wings?
Ilitch: “My title is Alternate Governor, which means I go to the Board of Governors meeting who meet about every other month. I work on the business side of the Red Wings so I am involved with selling season tickets, marketing plans, and that kind of thing. The new campaign, Hockeytown Kids, is really cute – you should check it out. The season tickets are beautiful, just fun pictures of kids celebrating Hockeytown and the passion of the Red Wings. So you see kids with things on their heads and painted faces. I help with the business aspect, and on occasion I will help if asked on the hockey side whether its inadvisory capacity or host luncheons for the players’ wives.”
Christy: Detroit didn’t use to be called Hockeytown until after the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup two years in a row, what was it like seeing the transformation of the Red Wings team and fan support over the years – from being a team with little fans to today where you have a team consisting of such talented individuals and having such a large fan base?
Ilitch: “Well, it’s really exciting – I remember when we were called the Deadwings in 1982 and we all had to go and try to sell season tickets. People didn’t want to buy tickets, they hated Joe Louis Arena and still wanted the Olympic Stadium, and it was terrible. You’d read terrible articles in the newspaper and then of course we got involved and it’s very exciting and very seductive because you want keep it up, you don’t want to go back to where you were before so you are constantly working on how to improve our team and replacing players that we’ve lost and how do we stay on top because we’re held to such a high standard. It’s very rewarding and a great payoff for all the hard work that has been done.”
Christy: How does it feel to have a father who was inducted into the Hall of Fame recently for his many accomplishments and achievements as an owner?
Ilitch: “It feels very exciting and we’re very proud of him. It’s just awesome. It doesn’t strike you until you’re there and then it’s like wow because you see all of these hockey players and tradition so we were just incredibly proud of him. And like my father said there are owners there, not a ton, but mostly players and to be acknowledged and not be a player is pretty amazing.”
Christy: As a high school student, what sport interested you the most?
Ilitch: “I was a cheerleader and had a boyfriend in football so those were my two favorite sports. I am not sport oriented at all, everyone teases me about that, but I tried. I love sports but I’m not active in sports.”
Christy: What did you do when you had the Stanley Cup with you?
Ilitch: “We took a bunch of pictures for our Christmas card and then we took it to as many people as we could think of. We had the whole neighborhood come to our house and take pictures and then we took it to my mom-in-law’s bar. We took it all over – all of our friends. My husband took it to where he gets his haircut.”
Christy: Do you see yourself wanting to put more effort into a winning franchise because they’re winning or a losing franchise because they’re losing?
Ilitch: “You want to win at everything in every company so you put your effort everywhere. You don’t sit there and say “Oh they’re fine so we’re not going to do ignore them†because like I said earlier, you got to keep maintaining the team. Having said that, when you’re having a distressed team like the Detroit Tigers you have to really not let a day go by without doing something to help and try to improve the organization. It would sort of like having two kids: one was doing fine and the other kid was really challenged in school. You wouldn’t love either child any less or you wouldn’t love the child who is doing well any less but you may spend some more time trying to help the child who is struggling at the moment.”
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August 2nd, 2006 at 8:19 pm
[…] - Denise Ilitch, daughter of Mike and Marian Ilitch (the owners of the Wings), was robbed while in Detroit on her way to a political function. She was the former co-president of Ilitch Holdings and alternate governor of the team among other positions. I had the pleasure to interview Denise in November 2003 at her house in Bloomfield Hills, which was incredibly nice by the way. You can read that interview here. […]