Which Canadian Rivalry is the Next Leafs vs Habs?

[LordNeverLose]

Canucks vs Oilers for the 1st overall draft pick most likely.

It can't really be that great a rivalry since we already know who'll win it

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

calgary vancouver games can get p rowdy

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Shaping up? Our hate goes way back to the mid-80s. We have hated each other even during the post lockout season era, with Oilers fans jealous about our five playoff berths and Flames fans frustrated at the welfare check that is the draft lottery. No love has been lost.

I think he means shaping up as im both teams are becoming good so it's going to be more of an excitement to follow with more heated games and potential playoffs series

 

[teravaineSAROS]

It's going to get nasty.

nasty to whup the Flames so hard you almost develop sympathy for them

 

[snipes]

nasty to whup the Flames so hard you almost develop sympathy for them

Nope.

Hate the Shames, they are the enemy. Develop the hate now brother, we can't ****ing stand them.

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

The issue with the Jets is that they are the only Canadian team without another Canadian team in their division; who they supposed to rival Gary?!

The rivalry for the Jets would come from a series of playoff matches against the same team over a 3 - 5 year period.

Jets vs Oilers / Flames / Canucks would all instantly bring back the old Smythe Division battles. While not necessarily as important for the players the fans would go wild.

A Jets vs Wild series would get interesting since we usually have a few thousand people in their building.

 

[me2]

battles of alberta are going to be awesome. Brodie trying to stop McDavid, Nurse and Tkachuk getting in each others faces, Johny, Draisaitly etc.

 

[topshelf15]

I hate all the other CDN teams when the puck drops ,which also makes me love them ......

 

[Cor]

Leafs vs Oilers.

They face off in 5 straight Stanley Cup Finals, starting in 2019, and the Leafs win all 5. McDavid then leaves Edmonton for the Leafs in free agency

 

[stuffradio]

It would be Flames vs Canucks if we make the playoffs at the same time more often, especially with our playoffs history, but I understand the Flames/Oilers rivalry is probably better.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Habs-Leafs has like the least hatred between the two teams amongst any other Canadian pairing...

Hell, I find myself cheering for the Leafs sometimes.

The rivalry's been dead for a long time. It's worthless. I hate the Sens far more than I do the Leafs.

 

[Senor Catface]

You forgot the

And if you're serious I will give you 3-1 odds Calgary isn't in the western basement the next 5 years.

No sarcasm.

Calgary isn't a good team. Won't be much fun to watch for a rivalry.

 

[Sniper99]

Leafs vs Oilers.

They face off in 5 straight Stanley Cup Finals, starting in 2019, and the Leafs win all 5. McDavid then leaves Edmonton for the Leafs in free agency

Make this happen. Please. I need to shut up all my Oiler friends/family with their '67! chants.

 

[Cor]

The rivalry's been dead for a long time. It's worthless. I hate the Sens far more than I do the Leafs.

Hey!

We care less than you guys!

 

[HockeyGuruPitka]

There's no leafs vs habs rivalry anymore. Perhaps some fans still do hate each other but there's little animosity on the ice between both teams, if any.

Thats partially because the leafs have been terrible. I think we will see this renewed in the coming year(s)

 

[Chez Weber]

When the Battle of Alberta is on, it is the best rivalry in the NHL.

Calgary and Edmonton are both building strong teams, look for this rivalry to be off the charts in the coming years.

You clearly have never watched a Montreal-Boston playoff series

 

[Rorschach]

Winnipeg will punch someone in the mouth in the playoffs and a new rivalry will be born. I'm hoping it's not LA, hoping for a nice SJ/Ana - Peg rivalry.

 

[EDDIE20*]

There's no leafs vs habs rivalry anymore. Perhaps some fans still do hate each other but there's little animosity on the ice between both teams, if any.

It's pretty much non-existent these days (and has been for some years now). The rivalry is still there in a historic sense but that's about it. I'd love for it to re-ignite though.

 

[idspispopd]

Maybe I view things differently, but I do not think good rivalries come from the teams. Good rivalries already exist between cities, and their teams playing are another expression of that rivalry. The fake rivalries that sports media try to push just come off as contrived and hollow.

For example the Flames/Oilers rivalry exists because there is a Calgary/Edmonton rivalry. They have been regional rivals for their whole history, fiercely competing in practically everything. With the cities growing up together and with all the population movement between them, their rivalry has a great sibling rivalry feeling. Get people from Calgary and Edmonton together and they will compete about almost anything (and with families frequently spanning the cities this happens a lot). Their sports teams are just another outlet of this rivalry.

Trying to take a team like the Jets (example only) and say there is a rivalry with one of the Alberta teams because they are at similar stages in a rebuild or because they a had few intense playoff series, does not approach the level of a real rivalry. The reality is most people in Calgary and Edmonton do not even think about Winnipeg much. Sure you might get a little energy given the circumstances of a particular game, but over the long run it is no different than competing with any other team. No matter what happens in hockey that rivalry will never get very good unless something is built at the city level to back it up.

 

[Thierry]

Those saying that Habs/Leafs rivalry is dead don't know jack. I'm ready to say it's sleeping due to, has stated, the fact that those team didn't meet in the playoff for a long time and that they never were good at the same time recently, but it's still there.

Give ONE serie and the rivalry will be epic, bigger than with Ottawa of the Bruins. I only go to the Bell Centre when the Blues are in town, but if I see another game, it's against the Leafs. The hate between both fan base is still there and it's beautiful. As stated, this rivalry is so old and it's deeper than just hockey, it's cultural, it's the cities, it's the language: it's huge.

In fact, even if they are meaninless, almost ALL Habs/Leafs game are always entertaining because of that. No players take an off night during those games and that speaks volume.

Hell, even Georges couldn't let himself be traded to Toronto because he was considering that travesty.

 

[Mikeshane]

Leafs vs Habs is boring. So the next boring rivalry will be Ottawa vs Vancouver.

 

[DyerMaker66*]

QC - Hamilton

 

[Burke the Legend]

Those saying that Habs/Leafs rivalry is dead don't know jack. I'm ready to say it's sleeping due to, has stated, the fact that those team didn't meet in the playoff for a long time and that they never were good at the same time recently, but it's still there.

Give ONE serie and the rivalry will be epic, bigger than with Ottawa of the Bruins. I only go to the Bell Centre when the Blues are in town, but if I see another game, it's against the Leafs. The hate between both fan base is still there and it's beautiful. As stated, this rivalry is so old and it's deeper than just hockey, it's cultural, it's the cities, it's the language: it's huge.

In fact, even if they are meaninless, almost ALL Habs/Leafs game are always entertaining because of that. No players take an off night during those games and that speaks volume.

Hell, even Georges couldn't let himself be traded to Toronto because he was considering that travesty.

This. It's still decent, you can feel it in the crowd, in commentary, and watching the extra intensity on the players. I don't think I've seen a boring Habs-Leafs game in the last 5 years, they are always jacked up at least a bit more than normal.

Most inter-divisional games are like this in fact, I wish there were more of these and less inter-conference ones. They are the really boring ones, no intensity, lower playoff implications. I really don't understand why NHL fans are so insistent on seeing the other conference twice ("I need to see McDavid/Crosby wahhh". Go watch their games on TV or internet it's not hard). NFL & MLB fans have very little inter-league play and nobody cries like NHL fans do. What a waste of 1/3 of the season on low quality inter-conference games.

 

[DyerMaker66*]

With 82 games there's no reason every team shouldn't visit every arena. Watching the same game 10 times a year gets stale. Baseball already plays every day so you can't add games without extending the schedule and I couldn't care less about the NFL and what it does.

All games have the same playoff implications.

 

[Tom Collins]

Shaping up? Our hate goes way back to the mid-80s. We have hated each other even during the post lockout season era, with Oilers fans jealous about our five playoff berths and Flames fans frustrated at the welfare check that is the draft lottery. No love has been lost.

Hey man, let's be honest. The BoA has been significantly lacking fire for a while now. Last impressive thing was the KO of Westgarth by Gazdic, and even that wasn't the kind of fire I want in the BoA.

Now though, it's starting to look like either the Flames or the Oilers could do some damage (potentially), which will make those 5-6 games/season mean a whole heck of a lot going forward.

I anticipate the days when teams look at Alberta the same way they looked at California. Not saying we're anywhere close right now, but that's what I want to see.