The next great rivalry?

[The Grim Reaper]

Nothing will ever be what Montréal Boston is. Nothing. Not ever

Maybe "was", but it's not that great currently. It was a couple years ago, though.

 

[northeastern]

Nothing will ever be what Montréal Boston is. Nothing. Not ever

They need to reignite it. I'm going to Bruins at hand for my 1st game there and the third game between the two in 8 nights.

Toronto and buffalo could be good.

 

[Drake744]

I think a playoff series could kick off a nice Stars/Preds rivalry.

The games are always chippy and I already hate their fans, so wouldn't take much.

Yeah it'll never be one of the elite rivalries but if a playoff series or something could jump start it, Preds and Stars could be a good one. Most people don't realize (why would they?) that whenever the two teams get together it's a battle. I don't know what it is really, but there seems to be some bad blood between them. Always chippy and is made for a playoff series. When we played the Blues in the second round the narrative was "Hey they finally played in a playoff series. Maybe a rivalry comes from it." While that may be, I found myself sort of wishing that it was actually Dallas we were finally playing.

 

[Viqsi]

One might surmise that Jackets-Pens could work, largely because some Pens fans get furious any time you even suggest the possibility.

 

[Gordoff]

Nothing will ever be what Montréal Boston is. Nothing. Not ever

Yes indeed, it's intense and has all the makings of one of the greatest rivalries in the modern era. With Claude Julien (still) the new coach in Mon'real and the fact that he has yet faced his old team and his old assistant coach face to face I predict it will be nasty once again. We love to hate each other!

In the violent '70's it was Boston/ Rangers and Boston Philly, Montreal seems to set our blood boiling and it's been this was since Don Cherry was too dumb to count to 6 in 1979.

 

[Kardi]

Leafs Oilers if they meet repeatedly in the finals

 

[Rich Nixon]

Flyers vs. Everybody

Reigniting the classic rivalry that has been dormant for a few years.

 

[AvroArrow]

Early 2000s Wings/Avs might have been some of the best hockey games i have ever seen, i dont think we'll ever see something like that again. The "hatred" might be there, but the ridiculous amount of skill and physicality on both sides ? Don't think we'll see that again. That's what was so different, both teams disliked each other but both were powerhouses in every aspect of the game.

 

[Van Buren Boy]

The battle of Pennsylvania goes back way before Crosby. I would say it officially started in 1989.

I don't see a full-blown Leafs/Flyers rivalry happening.

Take it from me...it has never been at the level it was at during the Crosby era. In the past when the Flyers were good, the Pens were bad and when the Pens were good the Flyers were bad. Flyers had much more fierce rivalries with the Rangers and Devils.

 

[Porkleaker]

I'd say Battle of Alberta or Flames vs Ducks but they'd have to win a game first so I'll go with Oilers vs Ducks, not much competition in the Pacific besides them.

 

[Little Psycho]

I don't know if it will be great, but LA was already being booed loudly at the draft.

 

[chethejet]

Only Bettman exceeds the boo's the Pens get. Everyone hates the Pens. Pens have a rivalry with everyone it seems. But Pens/Caps is real and Pens/Flyers is just a never ending hatred.

 

[Hynh]

Anaheim-Edmonton seems like a lock.

 

[Fugazy]

Anaheim-Edmonton in the West and New Jersey-Philadelphia in the East when Hirschier and Patrick get called up.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Winnipeg-Edmonton

Buffalo-Toronto

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I'd say Battle of Alberta or Flames vs Ducks but they'd have to win a game first so I'll go with Oilers vs Ducks, not much competition in the Pacific besides them.

One thing is for sure, Alberta hates the Ducks.

Well... Kesler, anyway.

 

[ImpartialNHLfan]

Toronto and Buffalo IMO

This.

Matthews vs Eichel
Nylander vs Nylander
Same division

Should be fun

 

[Porkleaker]

One thing is for sure, Alberta hates the Ducks.

Well... Kesler, anyway.

Kesler, Getzlaf and Perry are all hated

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Ducks-Flames has the makings of an epic rivalry. The hate is there. Of course an epic rivalry isn't so one-sided, so Flames need to actually win a few times (especially in Anaheim) before it can get to that level.

Why stop there ducks vs western Canada

I feel like oiler fans already hate us more than flame fans and weve been beating up the flames for years

 

[NYVanfan]

Canucks and ...aaw who am i kidding

 

[Reddawg]

Buffalo-Toronto is going to come back into fashion in the next few years. Too many parallels for two division rivals not to start getting chippy.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Canucks and ...aaw who am i kidding

Canucks and the lotto machine?

 

[Porkleaker]

Why stop there ducks vs western Canada

I feel like oiler fans already hate us more than flame fans and weve been beating up the flames for years

So much hate. lol

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Pens - Leafs , could see a few ECF matchups between those two

 

[CBJx614]

One might surmise that Jackets-Pens could work, largely because some Pens fans get furious any time you even suggest the possibility.

Pens fans will never admit it, but you ask the players and it's pretty obvious there's a rivalry. The teams just straight up do not like each other.

Once we best Pittsburgh in a playoff series things will truly ignite.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/news/penguins-blue-jackets-nhl-playoffs-2017-rivalry-pittsburgh-ohio-playoff-history/1gj06h4zw5z5rziiltej25n05

The Penguins  especially their fans  aren't ready to recognize this as that next-gen Eastern Conference rivalry. You can't blame them. Pittsburgh is the defending Stanley Cup champions with long-standing rivalries against the Flyers, Capitals and Rangers. Penguins fans tend to point East when having rivalry conversations.

You can feel it on the other side. Blue Jackets want in that conversation, and it wouldn't hurt if they got there at Pittsburgh's expense. Columbus is an emerging NHL franchise in a growing city that knows how to get behind a team. See: the 80,000-plus that went to the Ohio State spring game.

Penguins-Blue Jackets needs one more thing. Columbus needs to win a playoff series between the two teams before we can take that big step. Otherwise it's a just a heated matchup. Everything else is in place that makes great rivalries great is in place.

Geography doesn't have to make the rivalry, but it's implied when the Ohio River touches the feud. The cities are separated by a little more than 180 miles, and the terrain features more than a few Pittsburgh fans on the Southeast side of the Ohio border.

That breeds a special brand of resentment. It happens on the college level occasionally, like that time Ohio State beat Pittsburgh 72-0 in 1996.

It hits another level when pro franchises meet in the playoffs. Awesomely nasty games follow. The Bengals-Steelers 2015-16 AFC Wild Card game and Reds-Pirates 2013 NL Wild Card game are recent examples, but they share that all-too familiar common theme.

Pittsburgh wins, often in spectacular fashion like the 17-point comeback in the 2002-03 AFC Wild Card game against the Cleveland Browns. You'd have to go back to the 1990 NLCS  when the Reds beat the Pirates 4-2 – to find the last time an Ohio franchise eliminated a Pittsburgh franchise in the postseason.

Columbus had their first chance in the 2014 NHL playoffs in a series the Penguins won the series 4-2, but it had tension.

"They are the closest city team that we play, so I think obviously last time we played them in the playoffs," Atkinson said before the series started on April 11 . "The rivalry took off a little bit. Every time we play them in the regular season it's always packed. Those are some of the most fun games to play."