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Post by Zoom Waffles on Apr 2, 2009 14:18:31 GMT -5
Your thoughts? Which is the biggest hockey rivalry?
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Post by Zipper14 on Apr 2, 2009 16:45:06 GMT -5
In the history of hockey or at the moment?
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Post by Zoom Waffles on Apr 2, 2009 17:54:46 GMT -5
history. this is settling a debate at work. just curious what typically comes to mind when people think of great hockey rivalries.
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Post by Wolfpack on Apr 2, 2009 18:58:33 GMT -5
First one that comes to mind for me is Boston vs. Montreal. Others are Toronto vs. Montreal and Edmonton vs. Calgary.
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robicus19
Second Liner
Dun Dun Dun.... Another One Bites The Dust... Dun Dun Dun
Posts: 248
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Post by robicus19 on Apr 2, 2009 20:39:12 GMT -5
Colorado vs Detroit, hands down.
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Post by Zoom Waffles on Apr 2, 2009 22:25:55 GMT -5
haha well, the debate at work was over boston/montreal. i said that's the biggest rivalry in the history of the NHL. my coworker disagreed. Thank you wolfpack for proving me right.
a few that come to mind...
Pittsburgh/Philadelphia - The Battle of Pennsylvania has seen a lot of good action over the years, but never a long stretch of intense playoff matchups like some other rivalries. It seems these two teams are rarely at the top of their game in the same year, though this is starting to change.
Boston/Montreal - Obviously the classic Habs/Bruins matchup dating back to the Original Six days. US vs. Canada. I think it was pretty much solidified with that whole national anthem incident.
Chicago/Detroit - Another classic Original Six matchup of two cross-lake US rivals. Heating up again in recent years, and was a great backstory for the Winter Classic.
Toronto/Ottawa - Battle of Ontario, but not much of an old rivalry if we're talking about the modern Ottawa Senators.
Toronto/Montreal - The All-Canadian Original Six rivalry. Definitely still a huge one.
Philly/New York Rangers - Duh.
Pittsburgh/Washington - Lots of great playoff battles in the late 90s, early 2000s. The Jagr move didn't help. This one is still alive and well with the Malkin/Ovechkin/Crosby/Semin love square.
Pittsburgh/St. Louis - A classic that has all but disappeared. When the two came in as Second Six teams in the 60s they were instant rivals. But since they've been split into separate conferences, nobody has thought about this one in a while.
Edmonton/Calgary - The Battle of Alberta... very similar to that of Pennsylvania.
Colorado/Detroit - Not a ton of ancient history since Colorado has only been there for 14 years, but those years have seen some serious playoff battles. The Avs/Wings have faced each other in 6 playoff series since 1996, 3 of them in the conference finals. That's a true rivalry right there. Could it be more perfect than Sakic/Yzerman wearing the same number?
New Jersey/New York Rangers - Essentially cross-town rivals. I could be wrong, but I believe these are the two closest teams geographically in the league.
Others.... is Toronto/Buffalo a rivalry? They're so close to each other... Canada/US undertones... divisional rivals. But you never hear about it. What about Detroit/Toronto? Maybe opposing conferences makes that one tough. 'Nucks/Avs? I've heard that before but don't buy it.
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Post by Zipper14 on Apr 3, 2009 10:04:09 GMT -5
In history I would go with Boston/Montreal. I hope those guys play in the first round of the playoffs again this year.
Though in the first three quarters of the 20th century the Toronto/Montreal rivalry takes the cake. It was about way more than just hockey. It was French vs English and Protestant vs Cahtolic
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Post by fukufuji on Apr 5, 2009 19:58:21 GMT -5
Boston Montreal for history.
Colorodo Detroit was one I am most familiar with but it was too short lived to be biggest in history. The rivalry is dead now. Colorado is struggling and Babcock has Detroit very disciplined.
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Tomcat
Second Liner
Posts: 465
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Post by Tomcat on Apr 16, 2009 7:50:40 GMT -5
Red Wings and Blue jackets! Yeah...in Betman's wet dream.
The best all around has got to be Toronto vs Montreal
Other good ones: Montreal / Boston Detroit / Chicago Calgary / Edmonton Detroit / Colorado was great for a while (I still like that one).
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