The 5 Best Detroit Red Wings of the 1990s

The Detroit Red Wings were a juggernaut in the 1990s with two Stanley Cups and two President Trophies.

The Red Wings took some hard-luck playoff losses to the New Jersey Devils in the 1995 Stanley Cup Final and the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.

But in 1997, Detroit succeeded in breaking the 42-year Cup drought that dated back to 1955, following up on that Cup win by winning it again in 1998.

The Red Wings were led by some outstanding players in the 1990s.

Here are the five best Wings of the 1990s.

Note: putting together this five "best" list will likely leave some fans unhappy because there are so many players that could be on here but are not. "Best" will be justified by how much said player contributed to Detroit's winning in the 1990s.

Honorable Mention: Chris Osgood

Dave Reginek/Getty Images

Chris Osgood won 196 regular-season games for the Red Wings from the 1993-94 season to the 1999-00 season, recording 23 shutouts in the process.

He backstopped Detroit to their 1998 Stanley Cup, picking up all 16 wins and his first Stanley Cup Championship.

To have Osgood, who has more than 400 wins in his NHL career, as an "honorable mention" tells fans how good the Red Wings were in the 1990s.

Yes, Osgood did a lot for the team, but he had a few stumbling points that cost the Red Wings some games in the playoffs.

Nevertheless, he's still an extremely qualified player for this list.

5. Larry Murphy

Tom Pidgeon/Getty Images

Some Red Wings' fans might be asking how Larry Murphy could possibly be ranked higher than the best Detroit goaltender in recent memory in Chris Osgood.

Well the fact is that when the Red Wings picked up Murphy at the trade deadline from the Toronto Maple Leafs he put them over the top and gave them what they needed to end their Stanley Cup drought.

Murphy's presence on the back end and pairing with Nick Lidstrom gave the Red Wings what they needed to shore up a back end that had been iffy to say the least.

Murphy picked up six points in 12 regular season games and added another 11 in 20 playoff games in 1997. The next season he had 52 points and then another 15 in the playoffs as the Red Wings repeated as Stanley Cup champions.

In other words, Murphy is higher than Osgood on this list because he contributed as much to the Red Wings winning as Osgood did earlier in the 1990s to the Wings losing in the playoffs.

4. Brendan Shanahan

Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images

Brendan Shanahan came to Detroit at the right time.

Although he only started playing with the Red Wings in 1996-97, he was the dominant, right-handed power forward that Detroit needed to take the next step.

Shanahan put up 46 goals and 87 points in the regular season and then chipped in another nine goals and 17 points in 20 playoff games.

He ended up playing nine seasons for the Red Wings, but his biggest contributions were earlier on in his career when he helped the Red Wings on their ascent to Stanley Cup glory.

Shanny put up 146 goals in four seasons in the 1990s with the Red Wings.

Not too shabby.

3. Nick Lidstrom

John Russell/Getty Images

Nick Lidstrom was a mainstay on the Red Wings' blue line through the 1990s.

But to say how good he was in points doesn't do him justice. To put it in perspective, think about the fact that Lidstrom was a plus-196 in the 1990s with the Red Wings.

Detroit benefited greatly from having him on the blue line, but he didn't really hit his potential until the end of the decade.

Lidstrom benefited greatly from having Larry Murphy as his defense partner for the Red Wings' first two Stanley Cup championships and used that experience to help the Red Wings win in the 2000s as well. Lidstrom's 19 points in 22 playoff games in the 1997-98 season helped the Red Wings win it all again.

2. Sergei Fedorov

Dave Sandford/Getty Images

Using his blazing speed, Sergei Fedorov was one of the most productive Red Wings' forwards in the 1990s with 734 regular season points.

Barring a holdout in the 1997-98 season, Fedorov played no less than 68 games per season every year he was in Detroit.

Fedorov was the only Red Wings' forward to record 20 points or more in four straight playoff seasons, the latter two being the back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.

But Fedorov wasn't just an offensive forward, he was one of the better two-way forwards in the game when he played. He won the Selke Trophy twice in 1994 and 1996.

Fedorov also won a Hart Memorial Trophy in 1994 for NHL MVP.

1. Steve Yzerman

Tom Pidgeon/Getty Images

Hard to debate Steve Yzerman being No. 1 on this list, as the captain had 870 regular-season points in the 1990s.

Yzerman had six straight 100-point seasons with the last three of those coming in the 1990s, but it was his defense that actually made him a valuable player for Detroit.

Scotty Bowman's insistence that Yzerman play a two-way game diminished Yzerman's point totals later in the 1990s.

But the commitment to defense also helped the Red Wings get to the later rounds of the playoffs for the first time in Yzerman's career, helping Detroit win back-to-back Cups in 1997 and 1998.

Yzerman had a combined 37 points over 42 playoff games in the two Red Wings' Stanley Cup runs.

He was Detroit's best player in the 1990s and remains a Red Wings' fan favorite and legend even while he serves as the GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning.