I read an interesting column today by esteemed Sports Illustrated writer Michael Farber. As many of us have noticed, the imposition of the NHL salary cap following the 2004-05 lockout, while giving hope to long-moribund teams—for example, the Hurricanes-Oilers Stanley Cup Final—has also made dynasties a thing of the past, but it is these dynasties on which the league thrives. Although it’s certainly unfathomable to look at the standings and see the Red Wings in ninth in the West, the balance this has created between the big spenders and the typical have-nots more than justifies the imposition of the salary cap. Everyone already knows how average my life is, so let’s instead fill this space with my arguments in favor of parity…

First, let’s talk about the obvious point, which is particularly timely in light of the Detroit Tigers’ recent salary dump–err, “trade”–of Curtis Granderson to the hated Yankees. Regardless of your thoughts on the Bronx Bombers’ finally figuring out how to buy the World Series, it’s difficult to deny that the economics of a sport where one player’s salary is higher than another team’s entire payroll are a bit—let’s keep this G-rated—topsy-turvy. Now, take a look at the current NHL standings. The Buffalo Sabres—who were teetering on the verge of bankruptcy a few short years ago—currently sit in third in the East and are coming off a 3-0 win over the front-runner for the Presidents’ Trophy. The Pittsburgh Penguins, another team that looked to be on the brink of going under before the lockout, are the defending Stanley Cup champions. Even the Phoenix Coyotes and Nashville Predators, two teams skating in a sea of red ink, sit sixth and eighth in the West, respectively. How have such small-market baseball teams fared lately? Here’s a hint: If you can’t recall seeing the Reds or Pirates in the playoffs this decade, it’s not because your memory is failing you.

I can certainly see the argument, though, that the cap makes it impossible for teams to succeed year in and year out. Well, let’s have a look at some recent results. In the first four post-lockout years, six teams have made the playoffs every year: the Devils, Rangers, Red Wings, Sharks, Flames, and Ducks. Detroit has finished first or second all four years, and the Devils have finished no lower than fourth in that span as well. But what’s more notable than that is the story of one of the teams that didn’t make the cut: the Flyers. Philly finished fifth in 2005-06, sixth in 2007-08, and fifth last season. But where were they in 2006-07? Dead last in the conference.

Let that sink in for a minute. The Flyers went from being the worst team in the conference to the East semifinals the following year. How many baseball teams have done that in my lifetime? I can think of four: The 1989 “Why Not” Orioles, who improved from 54-107 to a second-place finish in the AL East behind the Blue Jays; the 1991 worst-to-first Braves and Twins, who met in that epic seven-game World Series; and the 2008 Rays, who fell to the Phillies in the Fall Classic. Odds are I’m missing a few, but I think I’ve made my point. It’s thanks to the salary cap that 30 teams can hit the ice in early October with legitimate playoff aspirations. Compare this to MLB, where the Yanks and the Sawks can just throw money at their holes every offseason and leave the other 28 teams to clean up their table scraps.

I can understand Mr. Farber’s lamentation that we may never see a team along the lines of the ‘80s Islanders, who won four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-83, or the Oilers of the same decade, who won five Cups in seven years, thanks to the cap. But the salary cap generally doesn’t relegate teams to mediocrity. Bad front-office management does. (I say “generally” because of the current plight of the Red Wings, who are led by one of the best GMs in sports, Ken Holland.) Yes, the Blackhawks will be forced to overhaul their roster this summer thanks to the long-term deals recently given to Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and will almost certainly suffer a drop in the quality of the on-ice product. But the Blackhawks also gave Cristobal Huet a four-year, $22 million contract. Let’s look at another team that wears red, my beloved Capitals. I’m not stupid (actually, that’s debatable…let’s replace that with “naïve”)—I realize they won’t be able to the team’s nucleus together for years like they did during the Bondra-Jagr era. But am I worried? Not particularly. The Caps’ AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, has won the Calder Cup two of the last four seasons and made it to the finals in another. Alex Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Green won’t be around forever—but it’s a lot easier to weather those losses when you’ve got a stacked farm system.

I don’t deny that a salary cap makes it infinitely tougher to be competitive year in and year out. But it certainly doesn’t make it an impossible task (see: New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants). No, we may never again see a team win four straight Cups, or five in seven years (sleep easy, Slats). But the days of NHL dynasties are far from over.