Detroit Red Wings: The Best Organization in All of Pro Sports

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.