It took less than one period of the Detroit Red Wings’ new season for frustration with Chris Ilitch to spill out inside Little Caesars Arena.

After the New York Rangers took a 1-0 lead during the first period Friday night, fans began chanting “sell the team,” according to longtime Red Wings beat reporter Helene St. James. The chant was directed at an ownership group beginning another season under intense pressure to return Detroit to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The timing was impossible to miss. Just two days earlier, a Red Wings fan launched an online petition calling for Ilitch to sell the franchise, arguing that the organization needs new ownership after a decade without postseason hockey.

A petition is one thing. Hearing the same sentiment inside the arena on Opening Night is something different.

Red Wings Fans Make Frustration Heard

The chant came remarkably early in Detroit’s 101st season, with the Red Wings trailing by only one goal in the opening period. That makes the reaction less about Friday’s score and more about everything that preceded it.

Detroit has missed the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons, which is both the longest drought in franchise history and the longest active drought in the NHL. The Red Wings were eliminated last April despite sitting at 41-30-9, extending a stretch that began after their 25-year postseason streak ended in 2016. The NHL documented the scale of Detroit’s drought when the club was officially eliminated last season.

Friday’s chant also arrived after a turbulent offseason that left several major organizational questions unresolved. The result is an Opening Night atmosphere that feels considerably different from the usual clean-slate optimism.

Pressure Has Shifted Directly to Chris Ilitch

Steve Yzerman’s July departure as general manager moved much of the scrutiny directly onto Ilitch, who is leading Detroit’s search for its next permanent hockey operations leader. The organization began that process with more than 100 potential candidates and hired an executive search firm, but the lengthy GM search carried into the season with Shawn Horcoff still serving on an interim basis.

Ilitch acknowledged in July that Detroit had fallen short of expectations. When the organization announced Yzerman’s transition to a senior advisory role, Ilitch said, “Clearly, we are not where we and our fans expect to be as an organization.”

The fans chanting Friday apparently agree with the first half of that assessment. Their preferred solution is considerably more dramatic.

Opening Night Already Feels Different in Detroit

The chant was not the only uncomfortable moment before and during the opening period. Dylan Larkin, who requested a trade during the offseason and was removed as captain, was booed by some fans when he was introduced with Detroit’s scratches before the game. Larkin was ruled out of the opener with an upper-body injury, which is why he was with the scratches rather than in the lineup.

Those reactions should not automatically be treated as the opinion of every Red Wings fan. Crowd chants can start with a relatively small section and grow quickly, and there is no reliable way to determine how many people inside Little Caesars Arena want the Ilitch family to sell the franchise.

Still, “sell the team” breaking out during the first period of Game 1 is difficult to dismiss as ordinary Opening Night grumbling. Detroit’s own hockey operations page identifies Ilitch as the franchise’s governor and CEO, with responsibility sitting squarely at the top of the organization.

The Red Wings have 83 games remaining after Friday.

Their owner didn’t even get through the first period before hearing about it.