The Detroit Red Wings, after winning the Stanley Cup this season, have to be considered as the best organization in all of professional sports in today's modern era.
They now have won 11 Cups all time, a few short of overtaking the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place behind the Montreal Canadiens. This team not only has won multiple championships but has won 11 out of the last 14 division titles.
This decade and a half run has also occurred before and after the salary cap era in the NHL. When the salary cap hit, a lot of teams had to dump players to avoid going over the cap.
The Red Wings were then thought of to have a major drop off as they had to dump a lot of player contracts. However, they've actually gotten better with drafting well, making good trades, and transitioning well between generations of players.
During this run, there has been three generations of players on this team. When Steve Yzerman retired, it was Nicklas Lidström who took over and is the current captain. In a few years when Lidström decides to retire, it will be Henrik Zetterberg.
Since the mid 90s, the team has always been a threat to go deep in the playoffs.
There have been other teams that have sprung up in the NHL, most notably the Colorado Avalanche, but the Red Wings seem to have outlasted all of them. In the three other major professional sports, such domination has not occurred.
The Yankees and Red Sox have dominated baseball over the same time period. In basketball, it has been a slew of teams: the Bulls, Spurs, and Lakers. In football, it’s been the Cowboys, 49ers, Patriots, and a slew of other teams.
Some have these teams obviously dominated more than others did. Therefore, there has not been a team quite like the Detroit Red Wings who deserve all the credit in the world for remaining the gold standard for such a remarkable amount of time.
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4 months ago
Homer much?
Firstly, how are you going to make a claim like that and in your second paragraph you say 'they are only a few short of overtaking the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place behind the Montreal Canadiens.'?
I'm only going to tear down one of your arguments cos I'm tired.
'Since the mid 90s, the team has ALWAYS been a threat to go deep into the playoffs'
95/96-lost in conf. final to the upstart Avalanche
2 Cups, not bad (considering they faced the Flyers and the Capitals)
98/99 and 99/00-lost second round to the upstart Avalanche
00/01-out first round to LA
01/02-Cup in a suspenseful 5 game series against the Hurricanes and future HOF'er Arturs Irbe
02/03-swept first round by the Ducks
03/04-lost second round to the Flames
05/06-lost first round to the Oilers
06/07-lost conf. finals to the Ducks
07/08-won Cup against the NHL all-rookie team
It seems to me, since the mid-90's, when they aren't busy going out first or second round (or getting ousted by a Colorado while doing so), they're winning pretty uneven cup Finals ( I mean REALLY, the 'best organization in pro sports' showed their moxy and determination, not to mention grace under pressure against the juggernauts of the Southeast, Washington and Carolina? Or the terrors of the Atlantic, Philly and Pittsburgh?)
Detroit is a strong team in a weak division, and because of the way the playoff seeds work, they only have to play ONE strong team in the 3 rounds before the finals, as opposed to the 2 lower seeded teams they take on the first 2 rounds, and as the Eastern Conference is wide open, you get the freaking Hurricanes going up against the Wings, Bravo!
I'm a Leafs fan and will make no bones about it, but if the best organization in professional sports is a hockey team, it's Montreal.
4 months ago
Ok, well obviously Montreal has the most cups ever. That is indisputable. I didn't say Detroit since the history of the whole NHL was the best team ever that obviously goes to Montreal. However, what has Montreal done lately? Not much. The last cup they won was in 93. The Wings have won 4 since then. No team in RECENT history has won more than the Wings. You cant compare the modern era to the golden era of dynasties where the Celtics and Montreal seemed to be winning titles every year for a while. That was a different era, the salary cap and free agency didn't play as big of a role it has played today. I'm not claiming that Detroit's the greatest team ever, they are the best in today's landscape if you go by the numbers 4 cup wins and 5 cup appearances during their run. Also the division titles numbers are very impressive too. You can't fault them for their competition. All things considered,I think that what they've been able to accomplish is very impressive. There hasn't been any other NHL team recently that has been able to duplicate it. No one in the NHL has won more recently or appeared in more finals.Its not their fault who they play, obviously they dominated the teams they've faced in the finals, that further proves my point. Of course there will be a few years where there will be early flame outs in the playoffs. Lets look at another sport for example. The San Antonio Spurs have been one the most dominant, if not the most dominant team for the last decade in the NBA. They've also had early playoff exits: 2000 lost in the first round,2001 lost in conference finals, 2002 lost in second round, 2004 lost in second round, 2006 lost in second round, this year lost in conference finals. So by that logic, they're not dominant at all. As much as I dislike the Spurs, I'm not going to dispute their dominance. I believe that the Red Wings have been the most dominant organization during their run because no one's been able to do what they've done during this time period taking everything into consideration. Besides, you're a Leafs fan of course you'll be bias against this. The only other kind of fan that would be more biased than a Leafs fan would be an Avalanche fan.
4 months ago
I'm sorry, do you know hockey at all? Why would a Leafs fan be biased against a non-division, non-conference, non-provincial team they play once, maybe twice a year?I think that the fact that I was able to swallow my pride in admitting Montreal, not Toronto, is the greatest sports team shows that I am far from biased, I call my shots the way I see them, and my writing will show I've devoted more time to ripping on the Leafs then any other team.
Montreal has not won a Cup since '93, this is no secret, however they also have not had a franchise player since Patrick Roy (no slight to Koivu,but he is far from having a statue erected on Rue Ste. Catherine), whereas Detroit went from Yzerman, to Lidstrom, to Datsyuk and Zetterberg (whose drafting involved nothing regarding strategy, rather luck). It's also worth mentioning that even during the pre-salary cap NHL, Montreal never relied solely on the signing of free agents as a viable strategy, as opposed to the Red Wings efforts to ice the all Hall of Fame team.
To the Detroit Red Wings, the best team money can buy.
from 4 months ago
Ok.... obviously you didn't bother to read my whole article as I talked about Detroit in the post salary cap era. As Dont pointed out the Wings are below the cap and thats a big part of how they maintained the success they're having. This year the Wings were $4,330,325 below the salary cap. Enough said. As far as Montreal not having any franchise players and Detroit being loaded, why is that Detroit's problem? Montreal has a great history, they should be able to attract players, right? How many other teams have had "franchise" players and won Cups since 93? The Rangers,Devils,Avalanche,Stars... you get my point. If Montreal's management is incapable of maintaining a great team they have no one to blame but themselves. As far as Detroit having "luck" and not strategy in the draft, luck always plays apart in any draft. It's not like teams can predict how good a guy can be 5, 10 years down the road. I'm sorry, but it bears repeating, drafting takes a lot of luck in order to be successful at the highest levels. That's how dynasties are built especially in the salary cap era.I'm NOT implying that the Red Wings are a dynasty YET, though its debatable as they are very close to being one. They are however, the best team in the NHL today if you go by the numbers. If you say that the Red Wings maintaining a well run organization for years is all luck and no skill, then you are seriously kidding yourself because any dominant team in pro sports needs excellent management to stay at the top and takes a lot of skill as well.
4 months ago
Wow this guy Andrew is a huge Red Wings Basher. Yzerman, Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Zetterberg, Franzen can't all be luck. Don't hate on the Red Wings just because your jealous. You claim they beat up on the Central Division yet they were .500 against them this year. Think about that, that means they were 37-9-4 against everyone else, including your beloved Leafs and the team you call the best in Montreal. Your last sentence makes absolutely no sense as well since there is now a cap, Detroit in fact was under budget this year. Why don't you put your big girl panties on and quit replying to every Red Wings post in a negative way.
from 4 months ago
Thank you Dont. You made my point clearer. The numbers don't lie. The Red Wings are clearly doing everything the right way and the Cups they won are a reflection of that.
4 months ago
Pavel Datsyuk - 175th draft pick
Henrik Zetterberg - 210th draft pick
'nuff said. Leafs homer loses.
4 months ago
Dont-Way to brag on dropping half your games to Minnesota, Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus.
Pudly-Datsyuk and Zetterberg are exactly what I'm talking about in regards to luck, I think Ken Holland is a phenomenal manager, but he also enjoys more discount signings than anyone else. Leafs homer? Do something.
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