I've always gotten that impression from listening to players mic'd up- they're all professionals going through the same stuff so I think they understand each other a bit better than the fans do.
I remember years ago when Buf/Ott was heated, and some Buf player had to be held back in the tunnels cause there was one guy in particular that was just a Gillies level goon... it was just interesting to hear- "you gotta work with that guy, you gotta defend him, and you shouldn't! You know he doesn't belong here!" Something along those lines, and it was so much more brutal because it was coming from a more.. objective place? Like they'd just finished fighting for 60 minutes but usually everyone is chill at that point. Nope, there was one guy who just did not get that level of respect.