After he throttled back on spending for the Tigers this year, Ilitch hinted next season might mark a return to the more aggressive signings of the previous few seasons.

"I'm not gonna change," Ilitch said, noting that the NHL has a salary cap and baseball does not. "It's not like this, where we're restricted."

Detroit took on one-year deals this season after trading for first baseman Miguel Cabrera and left-handed Dontrelle Willis and signing both to multi-year contracts last winter.

The Cabrera contract looks good, but Willis didn't pan out after signing a three-year contract last winter.

"I don't regret it," Ilitch said at of his baseball moves at the hockey press conference. "I know we take chances every so often. We missed on some. We've got to be more careful."

The Tigers continued to be a bad defensive club last year, and they believe that area has been better addressed this time around. Limited moves were made to shore up an atrocious bullpen and mediocre starting pitching. Bad long-term deals were a factor there.

The state of the economy has caused most teams in baseball to shy away from taking on long-term debt.

"I think we were dealing with some areas that surfaced that hurt us bad," Ilitch said. "Defense, and we addressed the pitching situation. They turned out to be our weaknesses. But now, hopefully, they're our strengths."