The Detroit Red Wings might not be a team for the ages, but they certainly are close to being the team of the era.

It is difficult to think of them as a dynasty when you consider the long, consecutive Cup runs of the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers. But in the context of this expanded NHL they will be known as the best of the bunch.

With their humble beginnings traced to a humiliating 4-0 sweep at the hands of the New Jersey Devils in 1995, the Red Wings have come on to dominate the NHL with consecutive Cups in 1997 and 1998, and with what appears to be a lock on a third Cup within the next two weeks.

The Carolina Hurricanes will of course try and pull off the upset of the new millenium, but the Red Wings Hall-of-Fame lineup doesn't appear to be the sort that will allow such a turn. Like any great team, the Red Wings are even more impressive because of the competition they have faced. In their case, the Colorado Avalanche -- and goalie Patrick Roy -- provided the required sparring partner. Much like Affirmed, whose journey into Triple Crown history required winning close races against Alydar, the Red Wings have the Avalanche as a measuring stick.

The irony here is that the Red Wings' victory over Roy and the Avalanche in Game 7 last Friday night likely stopped Colorado from reaching the same status. After all, it would have been a chance for Colorado to win its third Cup since 1996, and they would have been able to match Detroit's back-to-back jobs in 1997 and 1998.

The Detroit championships are a bit strange. A Cup this spring would be achieved with goalie Dominik Hasek, giving the Wings "era" three Cups with three different goalies -- Mike Vernon in 1997, Chris Osgood in 1998 and Hasek.

That is far different from the Oilers' runs with Grant Fuhr, the Islanders' runs with Billy Smith, or the Canadiens' runs with Ken Dryden. The brick and mortar of the Wings' power has been captain Steve Yzerman, coach Scotty Bowman, and a front office that has the bank roll and savvy to go out and get the players needed to stay at the top.

Indeed, there have been mistakes, such as Uwe Krupp. But on balance, they tipped the financial balance sheets to provide room for Sergei Fedorov to stay in 1998, and to bring in stars such as Chris Chelios, Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull.

Along the way, New Jersey has won two Cups (1995 and 2000), the Dallas Stars captured one in 1999 under Bob Gainey and Ken Hitchcock, and St. Louis and San Jose have proven to be good competitors.

However, the Wings are just four wins away from claiming the era as their own. And a third sweep to the Cup would be that much more impressive.

Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.