Detroit Red Wings: Where Does 2012 Squad Rank with Franchise's Greatest

In today's world of instant gratification and limitless media resources, we often consider what we see most recently as what could be the "Greatest of All Time.'' While our memory often fails us, we can thank YouTube and the other endless media outlets for reminding us that Eddie Shore was more than just a guy mentioned repeatedly in the movie Slap Shot.

This year's Detroit Red Wings already have touched hockey greatness with their home win streak of 23 games and appear poised to make a legitimate run at immortality with a strong challenge to the Stanley Cup. After bowing out the past two years to the San Jose Sharks, this year's edition needs to go deeper into the playoffs to draw any comparisons to some of the legendary teams who have donned the winged wheel.

Since I'm sure the bulk of the reading audience is under the age of 107, I'll limit this list to teams post-1982. The 1966-to-1982 period is widely known as the "Dead Wings Era", as those teams were particularly dreadful. So let's integrate this year's Red Wings into a list of the best Red Wing teams in the past 30 years.

2012 Red Wings...To Be Continued

It's unfair to put this year's team anywhere but on the bottom of this list. While they have the home win streak to hang their hats on, a rash of injuries will test the mettle of the 2012 squad. Injuries to Pavel Datsyuk's knee, Jimmy Howard's lower body and Nick Lidstrom's foot would cripple lesser teams.

While the Wings are contending for the Western Conference lead and the home ice it brings, they are blending some youth into the roster as well. Newbies Brendan Smith, Cory Emmerton and Jan Mursak are still awaiting their playoff debut.

The rest of the roster is loaded with experience, but they will be leaning heavily on netminder Howard, who has yet to get the Hockeytown heroes past the second round in his brief career.

1994-95: Shortened Season Extends to Cup Run

The shortened season of 1994-95 saw Detroit capture the President's Trophy with a 33-11-4 record. With a roster led by Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Ray Sheppard and free-agent goalie addition Mike Vernon, the Wings blazed through the playoffs until they met the methodical Devils in the Cup Finals.

While the Red Wings were led in scoring by defenseman Paul Coffey, they had a balanced attack. At least eight players had double-digit goals. This team had a great balance of veteran leadership and youthful exuberance, and also featured the advent of the "Russian Five".

In his second year in Detroit, veteran coach scotty Bowman would often send a line to the ice featuring five Russian stars: Fedorov, Kozlov, Larionov, Konstantinov and Fetisov. This core of players would go on to great things for the Motor City.

1995-1996: Record-Setting Season Ends in Controversy

After getting to the Stanley Cup Finals with a team that could score goals in bunches, the Red Wings attacked the 1995-96 season with great expectations. They would again win the Presidents Trophy with an NHL record 62 wins, while their Cup nemesis from New Jersey would also make history by becoming the first team to miss the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup.

With essentially the same group of players from the year before, the Wings reached the second round of the playoffs behind a double-overtime, sudden-death Steve Yzerman slap shot. In the conference finals, Detroit faced the transplanted Quebec Nordiques, who had moved to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche. Ironically, the Avalanche had acquired goalie Patrick Roy after Detroit routed him in his final home game in Montreal. The Avs were an equally talented crew, led by Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Sandis Ozolinsh.

The rivalry between the Avs and Wings became even more intense when Claude Lemieux drove Kris Draper into the boards face-first, shattering Draper's face. The Avs went on to win the Cup that year, but it could be argued that the Wings' pool of talent was equal to Colorado's. The missing element for the Red Wings seemed to be nastiness, until Lemieux ignited the fire and anger beneath them.

2008: Rebuilding the Wing Dynasty

Replacing icons with some regularity is kind of an odd thing, but Detroit seems to corner the market when bringing new talent in to replace the old. While five players were on the 2008 team that lifted the Stanley Cup in 1997, the Russian five were replaced with the Swedish seven, and 22 players were in the finals for the first time.

Coach Mike Babcock was behind the bench for Detroit. Named as coach in the summer of 2005, Babcock was trying to get the Hockeytown faithful to forget about the legendary Scotty Bowman, as well as the not-so-legendary Dave Lewis.

While Detroit had reloaded with superstars like Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Franzen to replace the outgoing Shanahan, Yzerman and Fedorov, the steadying Swede Nick Lidstrom anchored the blue line. Detroit's love-hate-love for Chris Osgood also came back full circle as "Ozzie" again found himself between the pipes.

While regular-season success was nothing new for Detroit, playoff success had been scarce since Bowman had left the bench. Babcock preached a similar style to Bowman, minus the head games that seemed to play with his stars. He had been to the finals with a less talented Ducks team, losing a heart-breaker in Game 7.

This team again plowed through the regular season, winning the conference by seven points and its division by 24. The Red Wings cruised through the playoffs with some resistance coming from Nashville and Dallas. Pittsburgh and its dynamic duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin waited in the finals. Detroit won a competitive six-game series, in what would be the first of two consecutive Stanley Cup matchups between the two cities.

Start to finish this team put together an impressive season, and finished with the ultimate prize. While time may have the 2008 Wings move up higher on the list, they will have to sit in fourth place for now.

1998: Repeat Cup Champions: Winning It for Vladdy

After breaking their 42-year-old Stanley Cup curse the year before, the Red Wings' celebrations were shortlived as an auto accident severely injured star defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov and the team's masseur. It became a rallying point for the Wings, who were also without the services of superstar Sergei Fedorov, who was a contract holdout.

After finally agreeing to a deal, Fedorov joined the team in time for the playoff push. Missing Konstantinov left a huge gap in the Wings defense, but they managed to use a rotation of veterans and youngsters, and on occasion even Fedorov, much to his angst.

Detroit met the Washington Capitals in the finals and swept them 4-0. In a touching tribute to their fallen teammate, Konstantinov was brought to the ice in his wheelchair and was the first person to hold the Stanley Cup after it was given to captain Steve Yzerman. The team pushed Vlad around the ice for a victory lap as fans from both teams cheered on in appreciation of the moment.

2002: Built to Win

The 2001-02 Red Wings are thought by many to be the greatest team ever assembled. Boasting 10 sure Hall of Famers and a rookie by the name of Pavel Datsyuk, the team was assembled by GM Ken Holland to address the team's' previous early-round exits. Spoiled by the success of back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998, Detroit had bowed out early in the years since.

After trading for the legendary invertebrate goalie Dominik Hasek and signing free-agent snipers Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille, Detroit's locker room was an All-Star team. Though Hasek was on the back end of his career, he could steal a game on any given night with his spine-defying flexibility. Hull and Robitaille, long past their 50-goal seasons, were hitching a ride to Stanleytown, but were still capable snipers.

Detroit immediately was anointed heavy Stanley Cup favorites and didn't disappoint. The Red Wings won the President's Trophy in impressive fashion and were top seeds headed into the playoffs.

The Wings took on a talented, but underachieving Vancouver Canucks team in the first round and lost the first two games at home. A fluky, center-ice goal from Nick Lidstrom and an inspirational speech from Yzerman  rallied Detroit, and they cruised into the finals.

They faced a plucky, gritty team from Carolina that refused to be intimidated by the Red Wings pedigree and found themselves down 1-0 after falling at home in overtime. The Wings again recovered to take the next four games for their third Stanley Cup in six years.

While an argument could be made that this team was the best ever in Detroit and they were great, they aren't even close to the best team in Hockeytown in the past 40 years.

1997 Stanley Cup Champions: Demons Exorcised

While it is understood that any opinion list is subjective, the best team to skate on the "Hockeytown" ice at the Joe Louis Arena was the 1997 Stanley Cup championship team. That was the first year that  "Hockeytown" was inscribed at center ice, and that team was hardly a standout during the regular season.

Detroit was two years removed from being swept by the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Finals, and a year removed from setting an NHL record for regular-season excellence before another premature playoff exit.

This team seemed to spend the regular season rehearsing for any and every scenario it might face in the playoffs, including and especially the Colorado Avalanche.

March 26, 1997 is a date familiar to almost every Detroit Red Wing fan. It galvanized this team and showed the rest of the NHL that the slick-passing and fancy-skating Wings weren't going to be pushed around anymore.

Seeking retribution for his best friends' face mashing in the 1996 playoffs, Darren McCarty led a brawl-filled attack on Colorado, singling out Kris Draper's assailant, Claude Lemieux. The fight-filled extravaganza featured an incredibly large number of "roughing" penalties and was the clear turning point in the Red Wings' season.

Finishing second in their own division, the Wings skated into the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. After dispatching the St. Louis Blues in Round 1, the Wings swept Anaheim to set up a rematch with Colorado with a trip to the Cup finals on the line.

Detroit refused to be denied, beating the Avs in six games. After the Red Wings slayed their dragon in Colorado, the "Legion of Doom" in Philadelphia hardly stood a chance. Detroit smoked the Flyers in the first three games and clinched Game 4 at home on a highlight-reel goal from emotional leader Darren McCarty.

The 1996-97 Detroit Red Wings are not the best team statistically by a long shot. They lost plenty of games they should have won during the regular season and carried a ton of emotional baggage from the previous years' disappointments.

But this was the most complete team, top to bottom, with a balance in scoring, defense, checking, "grinding" and goaltending. While the team seemed to need that spark in late March to wake up, the talent showed up when it mattered most.

Their desire and hunger to reach the Stanley Cup is unmatched by any Red Wings team in the past 30 years.