Who is each team’s biggest rival?

cgf

FireBednarsSuccessor
Oct 15, 2010
59,988
19,055
w/ Renly's Peach
Minnesota. Used to be Detroit but that's dead.

I can only speak for myself, but I’d say it’s more dormant than dead for me. Maybe cause I live in the Chicago suburbs and I pick up on some of the risidual midwestern rivalry with Detroit, but I still dislike the wings. Them rebuilding just means they don’t do anything to trigger that dislike as much as Minny does, but the negative feelings are still there to be triggered when I’m reminded that they exist *strokes beard*
 

cgf

FireBednarsSuccessor
Oct 15, 2010
59,988
19,055
w/ Renly's Peach
Until I joined this forum, I never imagined that so many people hate the Bruins. Fans from all over... I think only the Maple Leafs are more despised.

The Bruins and Canadiens are mutual rivals. No question. I think there’s a bit of a rivalry with Pittsburgh too. But I think there’s a lot more hate coming from the Maple Leafs towards the Bruins than the other way around.

I feel like this is a pretty common phenomenon when Massholes are first exposed to the outside world :sarcasm:
 

JianYang

Registered User
Sep 29, 2017
17,753
16,114
For montreal, it's always been Boston, except for the time that the nordiques existed, I guess.
 
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b in vancouver

Registered User
Jul 28, 2005
7,840
5,693
I’m curious about the situations where it’s not reciprocal, where a team doesn’t consider the opponent a bitter rival the way that opponent perceives it.

You see it happen with The Leafs as they try and shoe-horn themselves into the Montreal vs. Boston rivalry while neither fanbase would blink twice when naming the other - and possibly a few more teams before The Leafs.

Vancouver has tried to stoke a rivalry with Calgary and the California teams and Chicago and anyone else but none of those teams would mention the Canucks. - maybe they'll finally get a rival with Seattle (but sure enough The Kraken will land up having some bloodbaths against the Sharks and meet in the playoffs four straight years or something - and they'll be left out again)

Not sure whom Wings fans consider a rival anymore. Doesn't seem like they've really had one since they moved to the East.
 

b in vancouver

Registered User
Jul 28, 2005
7,840
5,693
Everyone is Toronto's rival ... and we're okay with it.

You guys might create some in the next few years if you can keep making the playoffs - but The Leafs have mostly been an after-thought since expansion. Nobody really cared about The Norris, then you guys had a growing rivalry with Ottawa for a few years but then your team has been pretty radio silence ever since. Hard to grow a rivalry when you either don't make the playoffs or are out in the first round.
 

mashedpotato

full stack.
Jan 10, 2012
2,153
385
You guys might create some in the next few years if you can keep making the playoffs - but The Leafs have mostly been an after-thought since expansion. Nobody really cared about The Norris, then you guys had a growing rivalry with Ottawa for a few years but then your team has been pretty radio silence ever since. Hard to grow a rivalry when you either don't make the playoffs or are out in the first round.

I'm not sure that I believe that team-rivalries are born exclusively in the playoffs.
 

Bluto

Don't listen to me, I'm an idiot. TOGA! TOGA!
Dec 24, 2017
1,439
2,179
As an NYR fan I pretty much hate NYI, NJD, PHI, and PIT fairly equally.
That old Atlantic division was nothing but malice.
 

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