Thus ends a dynasty: 25 years that will never be repeated.

Being born into a hockey-crazed family from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, there were only two choices as a young kid: the Montreal Canadians and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This all changed when, just before grade two, my family picked up and moved to Windsor, Ontario. My dad was a sportscaster for the CBC, and because Windsor offered few opportunities for sports related stories, my dad often found himself across the border in Detroit covering the Red Wings.

Being in Windsor, there were now multiple choices as to who to faithfully cheer for, and I decided the red and white winged wheel would be for me. I was only three-and-a-half years old when the Red Wings last missed the post-season, and I hadn’t even left PEI yet. My entire conscious life to this point, my favourite hockey team had never once missed an opportunity to bring home Lord Stanley’s cup. In fact, over their historic 25-year run, they have given me four moments of joy as they brought the Stanley Cup home to Detroit.

I remember where I was the last time they won, in 2008. I was working at a nightclub in Peterborough called The Trash. The DJ stopped his set to announce that the Wings had just knocked off the Penguins to win their 11th title. I raised my hands in triumph as most of the crowd, easily distinguished by proximity as Leafs fans, booed in unison.

I will be honest. The last few years have been dicey as far clinching a playoff bid. In fact, I remember the 2012–13 season the Wings had to string off a series of wins to close out the season just to make it to the big dance. But as they have in recent years, they defied expectations and punched their ticket in the waning days of the season.

The truly amazing thing about this run is that they have managed to keep up this level of consistency during the salary cap era. Logic would dictate that this feat would be impossible, but truth is often stranger than fiction.

Just look back at all of the things that the Red Wings have given us over the years. The Russian Five wowed NHL fans for the better part of a decade. Even after the tragic limo accident that took Vladamir Konstantinov’s ability to play away from him, they completed the elusive championship repeat. They gave us a laundry list of NHL hall of famers including Stevey Y, Sergei Fedorov, Brandon Shanahan, Dominick Hasek, Chris Chelios, Dino Ciccarelli, Paul Coffey, Viacheslav Fetisov, Brett Hull, Igor Larionov, Nicklas Lidstrom, Mike Modano, Larry Murphy, and Luc Robitaille.

Hell, the Red Wings faithful became known for throwing a pile of octopi onto the ice during games, something that goes well beyond tossing hats.

At no time since the expansion in the 1960s has an NHL dynasty like this ever existed. This 25-year playoff streak that has now come to an end will never be repeated. In fact, it would take at least another 15 years for the Penguins to try and match that mark. It is almost fitting that the end has come about this year, as the Red Wings historic rink Joe Louis Arena is set to close its doors for the final time.

For the first time in my life, I will begin the NHL playoffs not wearing my Wings jersey. I actually have to say the words “rebuild year”. But all good things must come to an end. I will have to make due with picking one of the five Canadian teams currently slated to enter the playoffs, but the question now becomes, who?

Alex Scantlebury is a multi-sport contributor for theocho.ca. He is a professor for the Algonquin College public relations program. Aaron and Riley would like to thank him for giving them an extra hour each week to spend on Bleacher Report while he was teaching. Follow Alex on Twitter at@pen_ink_page.