The Grim Reaper
Registered User
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.
Nothing will ever be what Montréal Boston is. Nothing. Not ever
Nothing will ever be what Montréal Boston is. Nothing. Not ever
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.
Nothing will ever be what Montréal Boston is. Nothing. Not ever
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.
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.
Toronto and Buffalo IMO
One thing is for sure, Alberta hates the Ducks.
Well... Kesler, anyway.
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.
Canucks and ...aaw who am i kidding
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
One might surmise that Jackets-Pens could work, largely because some Pens fans get furious any time you even suggest the possibility.
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."