National Hockey League rivalries

Rivalries in the National Hockey League (NHL) have occurred between many teams and cities. Rivalries have arisen for many different reasons, the primary ones include geographic proximity, familiarity with opponents, on-ice incidents (violence), and cultural, linguistic, or national pride.

The importance of these various factors has varied widely throughout the history of the league.

Early history

See also: History of the National Hockey League and Timeline of the National Hockey League

During the earliest days of the NHL, the league was limited strictly to Central Canada, and all cities in the league were in close proximity, making for bitter rivalries all around. In addition, Montreal had two teams representing that city's English-French divide, as the "French" Canadiens battled the "English" Wanderers (and later the Maroons). Rivalries also existed with other leagues, such as the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. It was not until 1926 that the NHL took over sole ownership of hockey's top trophy, the Stanley Cup. By that time, the league had begun expanding into the U.S., and new rivalries were created. Rapid expansion to the U.S. for a short time created a cross-town rivalry in New York City, between the Rangers and the Americans. The economic turmoil of the Great Depression and the Second World War, however, forced several teams to fold, with the result that by 1942 the NHL consisted of only six teams.

Original Six rivalries

Main article: Original Six

From 1942 to 1967, only six teams (the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs) played in the NHL. With so few opponents, teams played more frequently, and games were often underscored by personal rivalries between players. These personal and team rivalries persisted for many years, as the turnover rate on NHL rosters was very low. At one point or another during this era all the teams had animosity towards one another.

The strongest rivalries were:

• Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers - teams in Eastern United States
• Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings - teams in Central United States
• Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs - teams in Canada
• Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
• Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens
• Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
• Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Rangers
• Chicago Blackhawks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs-Canadiens rivalry

Further information: Toronto-Montreal rivalry

The rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens is the oldest rivalry in the history of the National Hockey League. From 1944 to 1978, the two teams met each other in the playoffs 15 times, and faced off in five Stanley Cup Finals. While the on-ice competition is fierce, the Leafs-Habs rivalry is actually symbolic of a much deeper cleavage in Canadian history and society — that between English- and French-Canadians. It's the rivalry between Canada's largest cities: Toronto, the largest and the heart of Anglo-Canada and Montreal, the second-largest and the heart of Franco-Canada.

From the time of the British conquest of Quebec at the Plains of Abraham in 1759, the chief tension in what eventually became Canada has been between English- and French-speaking Canadians. The English Canadians were for the most part of British ethnic stock and Protestant, and possessed conservative and imperialist loyalties. The French Canadians, meanwhile, were not only of French descent, but were also Roman Catholic in religion, politically liberal, and continentalist in economic thought.

When the NHL was created in 1917, these differences received the opportunity to play themselves out in a rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. The Maple Leafs' fanbase consisted mainly of English-speaking Canadians of British descent; in fact, the team's logo was in essence a stylized version of the Canadian Army's Cap Badge Insignia during World War I. This held particular significance for Leaf owner Conn Smythe, who had served as an artillery officer during the Great War. As late as the 1970s, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, was hung in the Leafs' home arena, Maple Leaf Gardens, and God Save the Queen was sung as an anthem before the game (the former practice was famously discontinued by the team's owner at the time, Harold Ballard, who asked, "The Queen doesn't pay anything to get in, does she?"). The Canadiens, meanwhile, captured the imaginations of French-speaking fans, mainly concentrated in the province of Quebec (and to a slightly lesser degree, English-speaking Catholic and Jewish fans in Montreal, as well as English-speaking Catholic fans in eastern Ontario and the Maritimes). In stark contrast to the anthem practice in Toronto, the Habs pioneered the use of the current Canadian national anthem, "O Canada," at the Montreal Forum.

While certainly heated during the 1940s and 1950s, the Leafs-Habs rivalry was particularly acute during the 1960s; one of the two teams would capture the Stanley Cup each year in the decade, with the exceptions of 1961 and 1970. The rivalry perhaps reached its zenith in the 1967 season, when both teams met in the Stanley Cup Finals during the centennial year of Canadian Confederation. The city of Montreal was hosting Expo 67 that year, and the Canadiens were expected to beat the Leafs quite handily. Still, underdog Toronto upset the Habs to capture the Cup.

After 1967, the rivalry cooled slightly due to NHL expansion and realignment. The fanbases of both teams began to erode somewhat: new franchises in Vancouver (the Canucks), Calgary (the Flames), Edmonton (the Oilers) and Winnipeg (the Jets) captured the allegiances of English-speaking fans in Western Canada, while the Quebec Nordiques competed with the Canadiens for the loyalties of Francophone fans within Quebec from 1979 to 1995. From 1981 to 1998, Toronto and Montreal were in opposite conferences — the Maple Leafs in the Clarence Campbell/Western Conference and the Canadiens in the Prince of Wales/Eastern Conference. The fortunes of the two teams since 1967 have also seen a marked difference; the Habs have won ten Stanley Cup championships since that year, while the Maple Leafs still have yet to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Toronto came close to reaching the Finals in 1993, where they would have faced the Wales Conference champion Habs in the 100th anniversary year of the Stanley Cup. However, they were narrowly defeated in the Campbell Conference Finals by the Los Angeles Kings. This rivalry is featured in the murals of Toronto's College subway station.

On May 29, 1992, Pat Burns resigned as the Canadiens head coach and was hired as the Maple Leafs head coach that same day, adding more fuel to the fire.

In 1998, the Leafs moved into the Eastern Conference's Northeast Division, along with the Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, and Boston Bruins. This has served to rekindle the rivalry somewhat, although the two teams have yet to appear in a playoff series against each other.

Bruins-Canadiens rivalry

The Bruins-Canadiens rivalry is a rivalry in the National Hockey League (NHL) between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens, two teams that are considered a part of the Original Six. The Bruins are among the Canadiens' more heated rivals. It is considered one of the most bitter rivalries in professional sports, as the Bruins and Canadiens have played each other more times in regular season play than any other two currently existing teams in NHL history. As of the start of the 2007–08 NHL season, the Bruins have won just over 255 of these matches, scoring a total of 1,814 goals against the Canadiens, with the Canadiens winning over 320 of them, scoring a total of 2,071 goals against the Bruins, with 105 other games between the two teams ending in ties, all before the 2004–05 NHL lockout's rule changes mandated the "shootout" format to break such tie games, going back all the way to the Bruins' first NHL season of 1924–25. As of the start (on April 16, 2009) of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs initial matchup between Boston and Montreal, the two teams have met for a total of 159 games, some 42 more games than two other "Original Six" teams, the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Boston/Montreal number of playoff game appearances against each other is the highest in NHL postseason history.

In the 1950s, the Canadiens would defeat the Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals three times. Also, during the 1952 playoff semi-finals, Maurice Richard was knocked out in the seventh game but returned to score the series-winning goal. One of the most famous NHL photos is the one of Richard and Bruins goaltender "Sugar" Jim Henry shaking hands after the conclusion of the series; Richard has a cut above his eyebrow while Henry has a black eye.

In a game against the Bruins on March 13, 1955, Rocket Richard was given a match penalty and suspended for the remainder of the season for deliberately injuring Hal Laycoe. Richard skated at Laycoe, who dropped his gloves to fight. The incident was exacerbated by Richard repeatedly breaking away to attack Laycoe with hockey sticks, and then assaulting linesman Cliff Thompson who had attempted to restrain him. The suspension prevented Montreal from finishing first in the league and from winning the Stanley Cup. It personally cost Richard the league scoring title. (The scoring title eventually went to Richard's Habs teammate, Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion. Geoffrion was booed by the Montreal faithful when he passed Richard for the point lead on the last day of the season.)

While the teams played each other often, the rivalry became truly pronounced in the 1970s, when both were yearly contenders. In 1971, despite the Bruins finishing first in the league and shattering many NHL scoring records, they lost in the first round to the Canadiens in seven games. This ended a potential Bruins dynasty (although they would win the Stanley Cup the following season). Don Cherry's "Lunch Pail Athletic Club" lost to the Habs in both the 1977 and 1978 Stanley Cup finals. Canadiens fans remember the rough tactics that Cherry's players used against Guy Lafleur, whose head was swathed in bandages at the end of the 1978 series after repeated high-sticking from Bruins players.

The seminal moment in the history of the rivalry was probably Game 7 of the 1979 Semi-Finals. After a rough and tumble series which saw both sides win at home through the first six games, the Bruins took a lead in the closing four minutes of game 7 in Montreal, thanks to a goal by Rick Middleton (Ken Dryden would later remark this as "the most beautiful goal" that he ever let in). The Bruins were charged with a minor penalty for having seven players on the ice, Lafleur scored the tying goal on the ensuing power play, and Montreal's Yvon Lambert scored in overtime to win the series. The win allowed Montreal to advance to the Stanley Cup finals, which they won for the fourth consecutive year.

The rivalry continued throughout the 1980s, mainly due to a division-oriented playoff format that seemed to pair the teams every year. Some memorable brawls took place, including one which continued into the tunnel between players who had been sent off. In 1988, the Bruins won the playoff series against the Canadiens in the latter's Montreal Forum on the way to advancing to the Stanley Cup Final. The next year, the Canadiens beat the Bruins on their way to the finals. In 1990, the Bruins finished off the Canadiens in the Boston Garden on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals and would also win the 1991 and 1992 playoff match-ups against the Canadiens, the last one being a 4–0 sweep. Part of the Bruins' victories over the Canadiens was due to goaltender Andy Moog who was often referred to as the "greatest Hab killer" the Bruins ever had. Ironically, Moog signed with the Canadiens for the 1997–98 season and helped the Habs to their first playoff series win in several seasons.

After meeting in the playoffs for nine straight years from 1984 to 1992, the two teams didn't face each other in the postseason in 1993. As for the Canadiens, they went on to win their most recent Stanley Cup with 10 straight overtime victories. In 1994, again the Canadiens were knocked out in the first round by the Bruins. Contributing to the animosity, the Canadiens defeated the Bruins in the first round of both the 2002 and the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs, despite the Bruins being seeded higher. The Bruins had finished first in the Eastern Conference in 2002, and second in 2004.

The Montreal Canadiens for the first time in many years did better than the Bruins in the 2007–08 regular season, winning all match-ups between the two teams. During the last regular season game between the two teams, Steve Begin, who would become a Bruin himself in the 2009-10 Bruins season, angered hockey fans while still a Canadien when he cross-checked star center Marc Savard from behind, resulting in a broken bone in Savard's back. Fate led the Canadiens to meet the Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, which Montreal won in seven games, which showed the Montreal team's potential for having problems with hard-checking opponents such as the Bruins. The Philadelphia Flyers, just such a hard-checking team through most of their own history, proved this by ousting the Canadiens in the following series that Montreal competed in, with a 4-1 games-won record.

The 2008–09 regular season, however, resulted in an almost complete reversal of the previous year's fortunes for the two teams, as out of the six meetings of the Bruins and Canadiens (down from the eight in previous seasons, due to NHL scheduling changes across the entire league) the Bruins gained a total of 11 of twelve total possible standings points in those six games, while Montreal only gained a total of four standings points in those same six games. The Bruins ended the regular season atop the NHL Eastern Conference standings with 116 points, while Montreal was lucky to "squeak into" the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs with 93 points, and as fate would have it, the two teams would once again meet in the 2009 NHL postseason playoffs, for the thirty-second time in their long history. Boston won the series in four games sweeping the Canadiens for the first time since the 1992 playoffs and for the first time in franchise history sweeping them in the first round, before the Bruins fell in a tough seven game second-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The presence of Jack Adams Award-winning coach Claude Julien, and forwards Michael Ryder and Steve Begin as players for the Bruins for the 2009-10 season, all as former Canadiens personnel not long before, looks to once again stoke the Boston-Montreal rivalry, with the second game between the two teams in the 2009–10 NHL season having being played in Montreal's home rink on the very date (December 4, 2009) of the Canadiens' 100th anniversary as a hockey team, which resulted in a 5-1 home victory for the Canadiens.

Atlantic Division rivalries

Main article: National Hockey League Atlantic Division rivalries

The New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins have all been in the same division since 1982, developing strong rivalries with each other; The New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers have been in the same division since 1974. The "Battle of New York" is a rivalry between the Rangers and the Islanders. With the renaming of the Patrick Division to the Atlantic Division in 1993, minus the Penguins (they were moved to the Northeast Division until 1998), the rivalries became established and historic in their own way, starting with the Rangers/Devils Game 7 match in the Eastern Conference Finals. With the realignment in 1998 the Devils, Flyers, Islanders, and Rangers remained together in the Atlantic Division with the Penguins returning to the group. From 1994–95 through 2006–07, the Flyers and Devils reigned exclusively as the division champions. In the post-lockout NHL, the Atlantic Division rivalries have become more intense with season-ending comebacks, shrewd trades, and more games played against each other during the regular season. This is the only division in the NHL where all its members have won the Stanley Cup at least twice in their own franchise's existence.

The strongest rivalries are:

• New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers
• New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers
• New York Islanders vs. New York Rangers
• Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
• New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers

Southeast Division rivalries

The Southeast Division is the division with most of the teams from the NHL's expansion into the Southern United States. It comprises the Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes (formerly the Hartford Whalers), Atlanta Thrashers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Florida Panthers. Two teams in this division have won the Stanley Cup, the Lightning in 2004 and the Hurricanes in 2006. With the division gaining power in the post-lockout NHL, many rivalries have developed. The Panthers and the Lightning have a rivalry within Florida.

Most rivalries involve the Washington Capitals. The Capitals–Hurricanes rivalry has existed since 2000, since in almost every season since then, the two teams have battled for the division championship. However the Capitals' biggest rivals are the Pittsburgh Penguins. In total, the two teams have met eight times in the playoffs. Despite trailing in 7 of the 8 series, Pittsburgh has won all but the 1994 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. They first met in the 1991 Patrick Division Finals, when the Penguins defeated the Capitals in five games, en route to capturing the Stanley Cup. The rivalry was intense during the early 2000s when the Penguins beat the Capitals in the first round in consecutive seasons (1999–00, 2000–01). More recently, with the drafting and emergence of Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin in Washington, and Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, the rivalry has heated up again, with controversial comments that Semin made about Crosby in the media and physical altercations taking place between Ovechkin and Malkin during games.

The Hurricanes have recently become rivals of the New Jersey Devils, the two teams meeting four times in the playoffs since 2001. Carolina has come out on top in three of those series.

Even though the Florida Panthers have been unable to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2000; The Philadelphia Flyers became one of the biggest rivals against the southernmost team. On October 25th, 2009 Mike Richards delivered blind sight hit on David Booth, leaving him unconscious on the ice. Booth suffered a severe concussion that placed on him injured reserve for most of the season. After this incident, the Philadelphia Flyers and Florida Panthers engaged in at least four fights a game. On March 3rd, 2010 star forward David Booth took the last laugh. Finishing with one goal and three assists, Booth helped the Panthers beat the Flyers 7-4. Booth recorded his first Gordie Howe hat trick after fighting Mike Richards in their first encounter since the hit.

Battle of Alberta

Main article: Battle of Alberta

The Battle of Alberta is the bitter rivalry between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. The two teams are based in the cities of Edmonton, the provincial capital of Alberta and Calgary, the province's largest city.

The rivalry was at its most intense in the 1980s, when the two teams combined to win 6 Stanley Cups in seven seasons (1984–1990), five of them to the Oilers, during a streak in which an Albertan team was in the finals for eight straight seasons (1983–1990). This showdown featured many top players of the time, including Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr, Lanny McDonald, Doug Gilmour, Gary Roberts, Joe Nieuwendyk, and Mike Vernon. During the 1990s neither team had much success, leading to a lessening of the feud. When each team advanced to the Cup Finals in subsequent years, 2004 and 2006 due to the NHL Lockout, the rivalry began to become more heated once again.

As both cities are rivals when it comes to many things (not just pro sports), the Battle of Alberta label has been applied to various other endeavors, most notably the rivalry between the Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.

Battle of Ontario

Main article: Battle of Ontario

The Battle of Ontario is a title applied to the rivalry between the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs. It is one of the most prolific rivalries currently in the National Hockey League. The two teams compete for the large hockey fanbase of Ontario, and are known to have very divided sets of fans. This popular rivalry often surfaces both during the regular season, as the two teams have been in the same division (the Northeast) since the 1998–99 season, and in the playoffs, where they have met 4 times in the last decade.

Avalanche-Red Wings rivalry

See also: Red Wings – Avalanche brawl

The groundwork for the rivalry between the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings was laid well before Denver even had an NHL franchise, during games between Detroit and the Quebec Nordiques. Once the Nordiques moved to Denver, the small rivalry still existed. Also, in a regular season game between Detroit and the Montreal Canadiens, the Wings scored on Patrick Roy 9 times, leading to Roy demanding a trade. Roy was eventually traded to Colorado and was a huge factor in the rivalry.

The rivalry was largely predicated on the competitiveness of both teams in the late 1990s and early 21st century. From 1996 to 2002, the teams met in five playoff series, three times in the Western Conference Finals. Out of those seven seasons, the teams combined to win five Stanley Cups and four Presidents' Trophies.

In Game 6 of the 1996 Western Conference Finals, Claude Lemieux checked Kris Draper into the boards as Draper was leaving the ice and Draper was severely injured. He suffered a broken jaw, broken nose, shattered cheek and orbital bone. Draper's injuries were severe enough to require reconstructive surgery and his jaw was wired shut for five weeks, yet Lemieux received the small penalty of a two-game suspension and a $3,000 fine. After the traditional handshakes that take place after a playoff series, many of Draper's teammates were shocked at the severity of his injuries and were furious at Lemieux for inflicting them. Former Red Wing winger Dino Ciccarelli said of Lemieux, "I can't believe I shook the guy's frigging hand." During postgame interviews, Claude Lemieux, when informed that Draper's injuries appeared to be severe, stated, "Nobody wants to see a player get injured. I didn't try to hurt him, and I'm sorry he's hurt." Following the game, a heated exchange allegedly took place between Scotty Bowman, Detroit's head coach and Lemieux, while Lemieux was walking with his wife and young son, ironically named after friend and former teammate, Brendan Shanahan, who at that time played for the Hartford Whalers.

Although the two teams played without incident on three occasions during the next regular season, their final matchup on March 26, 1997, resulted in what became known as the "Brawl in Hockeytown." Kirk Maltby, Rene Corbet, Brent Severyn and Jamie Pushor were involved in altercations in the first period, igniting tension between the rivals. At the 18:22 mark, a brawl started when Igor Larionov and Peter Forsberg collided on ice. Darren McCarty, who filled the role of enforcer for the Red Wings ended up breaking free from the grasp of a linesman and pursued Lemieux. Lemieux fell to the ice and turtled, but McCarty continued to avenge his Grind Line teammate, landing several blows and driving a knee to Lemieux's head, before they were separated by officials. The fight ended with winners on both sides. Uwe Krupp bested Jamie Pushor, Mike Vernon sent Patrick Roy to the bench with a cut over his right eye, although Roy landed more punches. Igor Larionov sent Peter Forsberg to the bench for the rest of the game by aggravating a previous injury. The Shanahan/Foote fight ended in a draw that was quickly broken up by officials. The ice was stained with blood, before it was resurfaced and the game continued, with Detroit winning in overtime.

During the next season, Joe Louis Arena was the site of another Red Wings/Avalanche brawl, featuring a fight between goaltenders Patrick Roy and Chris Osgood, as well as another matchup between Darren McCarty and Claude Lemieux. This altercation resulted in more severe penalties, earning both goalies minor, major, misconduct, and game misconduct penalties.

Early upsets to either team in the playoffs have kept the rival franchises from meeting in the post-season from 2002 to 2007. They did meet in 2008 where Detroit swept them 4 games to none. The only players to appear in this series that were involved in all of the previous series were Adam Foote, Peter Forsberg (both recently obtained), Joe Sakic, Nicklas Lidström, Chris Osgood, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Darren McCarty (recently obtained). Since that time, the rivalry has died down, largely due to Colorado's decline as well as the fact that many of the key players on both teams either retired, or are playing for other teams. However, in a much smaller brawl in 2002, veteran goaltender Dominik Hasek attempted to engage Patrick Roy in a fight, but tripped on a piece of equipment. Roy seemed ready to fight a third Red Wings goaltender, but the pair were restrained by officials.

During the teams' final regular-season meeting of the 2007-08 season, in Denver, Ian Laperriere threw a forearm at Red Wings star (and captain) Nicklas Lidstrom's head. This caused a response by Red Wing Aaron Downey fighting Laperriere, and coach Mike Babcock got into a shouting match with Avalanche assistant coach Tony Granato.

Year	Playoff round	Result of series	Result of playoffs
1996	Western Conference Finals	Col 4, Det 2	Col wins Cup
1997	Western Conference Finals	Det 4, Col 2	Det wins Cup
1999	Western Conference Semi-Finals	Col 4, Det 2	Col loses to eventual Cup winner Dallas
2000	Western Conference Semi-Finals	Col 4, Det 1	Col loses to eventual Cup finalist Dallas (New Jersey wins Cup)
2002	Western Conference Finals	Det 4, Col 3	Det wins Cup
2008	Western Conference Semi-Finals	Det 4, Col 0	Det wins Cup

Blues-Blackhawks rivalry

Not unlike the Major League Baseball rivalry between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues share an intense hatred of each other. Separated by 300 miles and at one time owned by the same man (Arthur Wirtz, who had a stake in the St. Louis Arena, where the 'Hawks farm club, the St. Louis Braves, played before the Blues entered the NHL in 1967), the clubs have been in the same division (Western 1970–74, Smythe 1974–81, Norris 1981–93, Central 1993–present) since 1970. The matchups reached their zenith in the early '90s, when both teams had well-known stars such as Denis Savard, Chris Chelios and Ed Belfour for the Hawks and Brett Hull, Adam Oates and Curtis Joseph for the Blues and played in old arenas (St. Louis Arena and Chicago Stadium) that were regarded as two of the loudest in the league.

Perhaps the notable moment in the rivalry was the 1993 Norris Division Semifinal: Chicago had won the division handily but were swept by the Blues, winning the series on an overtime goal. Belfour, who said he had been interfered with on the goal by Hull, went on to cause thousands of dollars' worth of damage to the visitors' dressing room at the Arena, breaking a coffeemaker, hot tub and television among other objects. To this day Belfour refuses to appear in regular-season games in St. Louis: the only exception coming in 1999 when he replaced Roman Turek for the Dallas Stars in the third period of a 4–4 game, and only after Turek had allowed four unanswered goals. When he was spotted skating onto the ice, the Savvis Center crowd greeted him with the "Bellll-foooour" chant, first popularized in the '93 series. Ironically, Hull and "The Eagle" were Dallas teammates in 1998–99, and both critical in the Stars' narrow Cup win that summer, which came at the expense of the Buffalo Sabres and Belfour's former teammate Dominik Hasek.

The Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues were also fierce rivals in the Norris Division along with the Minnesota North Stars, a three-way rivalry that was among the most heated, if not the most heated, in the NHL.

Although the Hawks have had a large string of bad fortune under Craig Hartsburg, Dirk Graham and Bob Pulford, keeping them out of the playoffs in recent years, whilst the Blues had made the playoffs for 25 successive years (a streak ending with the 2005–2006 season), the Blues and Blackhawks did meet in the 2002 Western Conference Quarterfinals. The Blues won that series 4 games to 1.

Norris Division Rivalries

The Norris Division, especially in the 1980s and early 1990s was perhaps the most heated division to play in in the NHL. The most famous version of the Norris Division had the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota North Stars as members from 1981 to 1993. The division was famous for its numerous fights between its members, which also often led to bench-clearing brawls.

The divisional playoff structure in the 1970s and 1980s was credited with creating much of the rivalry and hate between the five members in the division, as each team played each other team in the division eight times during the regular season, and the first two rounds of the playoffs were between teams of the same division. Thus the early round playoff matchups were often repeats from previous years.

Perhaps the defining moment of the Norris Division came in 1991 in a game between the Blackhawks and Blues. This game became known as the "St. Patrick's Day Massacre" for the massive amount of fighting and penalties handed out to both teams.

A nice summary from Old Time Hockey says:

"This game is known in Chicago and St. Louis as the "St. Patrick's Day Massacre." This was a classic Norris Division battle amongst two teams fighting for the President's Trophy. It was expected to be an intense game, but it quickly turned into a very chippy affair early.

A line brawl, started when Featherstone took exception to Jeremy Roenick's hard hit on Snepsts. Featherstone shoved Roenick, Keith Brown shoved Featherstone, and the fight was on.

With Featherstone and Brown fighting, another scuffle broke out when Roenick shoved Chase, called up from Peoria by the Blues in case something like this happened.

Goulet tackled Chase, then Kimble, acquired by the Blues to beef up the lineup, came into the fray, apparently leaving the bench to do so. Kimble yanked Roenick off the pile, and pummeled Roenick while Rod Brind'Amour held onto Roenick. Kimble broke Roenick's tooth and cut Roenick's lip.

"They had something against me and they wanted me to feel the pain," Roenick said. "They did."

The brawl started with Larmer high-sticking Gino Cavallini on the face, drawing a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct, then escalated into an ugly altercation in which the Blues had eight players on the ice and Chicago nine. The Blues players, among them Brett Hull and Oates, were sent onto the ice for the power play, but hostilities increased and Keenan sent out the enforcers.

Featherstone got into a fight with Peluso, who received a double game misconduct, but the main attraction was Stevens and Manson, renewing acquaintances after an ugly incident last year in which both were suspended. Stevens, the $1 million defenseman, and Manson skated away from the melee to get into a fight at center ice. Everyone else stopped fighting to watch the fight.

Melees in the first and second period resulted in 278 penalty minutes, including 24 minor, 12 major and 17 misconduct penalties. The Hawks won 6-4 in the game that best defines the phrase, "That's hockey, baby."

Many people have clamored for a return of the divisional playoffs and the restoration of true rivalries in the NHL.

Kings-Ducks rivalry

Along with the enmity shared between the city of Los Angeles and adjacent Orange County similar to baseball's Freeway Series, the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks share an on-ice rivalry due to sheer geographic proximity. The two teams are situated in the same metropolitan area, and share a television market. The rivalry started with the Ducks' inaugural season in 1993–94, and has since continued.

The Kings last made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals in the 1992–93 season, but have popped back into the playoff picture on four different seasons. The Ducks since their inauguration have made the playoffs five times. As of 2008–09, the Kings and Ducks have never met in the playoffs, nor made the playoffs in the same year. Since 2003, the Ducks recent success in the playoffs, topped with the winning of the Stanley Cup in 2006–2007 has slightly bolstered Anaheim's largely bandwagon fan base, but the Kings' fan base still remains strongly intact with loyal fans despite a recent lack of success.

During regular season (and, to some extent, pre-season) games, Kings fans arrive at the Honda Center in numbers for away games against the Ducks, but the same thing cannot be said for Ducks fans at the Staples Center. Games between the Southern California crosstown-rivals are often very physical and fight-filled. The rivalry was showcased for the NHL premier in London at the start of the 2007–08 NHL season with two games between the teams.

Kings-Oilers rivalry

The rivalry between the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings began more or less the instant the Oilers began playing in the NHL in the 1979–80 NHL season. Among the first year Oilers' players included a young Wayne Gretzky, who instantly challenged for the Art Ross Trophy against the Kings' Marcel Dionne. In the end, Gretzky and Dionne were both tied with 137 points, but the award was given to Dionne, who had two more goals (53 vs. Gretzky's 51). It should also be noted that Gretzky played 79 games to Dionne's full count of 80. Gretzky remarked during a press conference at which the scoring title was awarded to Dionne that he had been taught "that an assist was good as a goal".

The two teams would not meet in the playoffs until the 1981–82 NHL season. That season, Gretzky shattered the NHL record books with points in a season with 212 (92 goals and 120 assists). The Oilers also jumped to the top of their division despite playing in their third NHL season and had the third best record in the league. The Kings, after a fairly impressive 1980–81 season, slumped to having the fifth worst record in the 21 team NHL. They only made the playoffs, being fourth in the same division as the Oilers, because the Colorado Rockies had an even worse record in their last season there. This set the stage for the top-seeded, heavily-favored Oilers to meet in the first round against the Kings. After a two-game split in Edmonton, Game 3 in Los Angeles began with a commanding Oilers 5–0 lead after two periods. But in a miraculous comeback, the Kings managed to tie the game 5–5 in the third period, scoring the tying goal with 5 seconds left on a two-man advantage. The Kings would later win the game 6–5 in overtime. This game is often referred to as the Miracle on Manchester. The Oilers struck back in Game 4 to send the series back to Edmonton for the deciding game in a best of five series. However, it was the Kings who upset the Oilers and advanced to the next round.

For the next two seasons, the Kings would miss the playoffs completely while the Oilers competed in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1983 and won their first Stanley Cup in 1984. Both finals were played against the dynasty New York Islanders. The two teams finally met again in 1985, but this time the Oilers defeated the Kings in three straight games. The Oilers would go on to win their second straight Stanley Cup. They met again in 1987 under a new best of seven playoff format for the first round, and again the Oilers would win, this time in five games, and again the Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup. In 1988, the Kings were again blown out of the first round, but by the Calgary Flames, while Gretzky led the Oilers to another Stanley Cup.

The entire world of sports was shocked on August 9, 1988 upon the announcement of the Oilers trading Wayne Gretzky along with Mike Krushelnyski and Marty McSorley, to the Kings for two rising young players (Jimmy Carson and Martin Gelinas), three first-round draft picks, and $15 million.

Gretzky would lead the Kings in the 1988–89 NHL season to vast improvements. For the first time, the Kings had a better season record than Edmonton, finishing second in the Smythe Division over the third place Oilers. This also led to another first round match up between the Kings and Oilers. This time, it was the Kings, with Gretzky, against the Oilers, and the Kings also had home ice. The Oilers first took command of the series and jumped ahead three games to one above the Kings. But Los Angeles answered back with three straight wins to win the series against Edmonton.

In the next three playoff meetings between the two teams, the Gretzky-led Kings would be eliminated by his former teammates in four, six, and six games respectively. Edmonton also won another Stanley Cup in 1990 after sweeping the Kings in the second round.

After the 1990–91 NHL season, the rivalry would die down as players from the Oilers would move to other teams. Jari Kurri and Charlie Huddy would rejoin Gretzky on the Kings and go on a playoff run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993, losing to Montreal in five games. Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Adam Graves, Craig MacTavish, and others would move to the New York Rangers and go on a Stanley Cup winning run in 1994, which was the last hurrah for the great Edmonton team of the 1980s.

Canucks-Flames rivalry

The rivalry between the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames of the Northwest Division has its roots in the stark geographic, political, and economic differences between Vancouver and Calgary, the two largest cities in Western Canada. The two cities are separated by the barrier of the Rocky Mountains, with Vancouver surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the peaks of the Coast Mountains, and forests and Calgary sitting on an expanse of flat prairie. The Rockies serve as not only a geographical barrier but a political one as well: Vancouver is a haven for the political left in Canada, strongly supportive of both the Liberal and New Democratic political parties, while Calgary has been a bastion of right-wing politics since the province of Alberta's creation and is a stronghold for the Conservative Party.

Prior to the turn of the millennium, the Canucks and Flames faced each other during the first round of postseason play in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1989 and 1994, with Calgary holding a 3-2 margin. The latter two series were decided in seven games by overtime goals (Joel Otto for Calgary and Pavel Bure for Vancouver) and coincidentally both managed to reach the Stanley Cup Finals during those seasons (with Calgary winning the cup in 1989).

In the early and mid nineties, the rivalry was considered among the most intense in the NHL, with the two teams often battling for top spot in the Smythe and later Pacific Division. However, it started to fade soon afterward as both teams started to sink in the standings in the late 1990s.

It was during the 2003-04 season when the rivalry re-ignited, with the Canucks and Flames constantly battling for top spot in the Northwest Division along with the Colorado Avalanche. When Canucks captain Markus Naslund and Flames captain Jarome Iginla developed into two of that era's greatest players, the rivalry became one of which team had the better overall leader. Between the beginning of the century and Naslund's departure from the Canucks in 2008, the spotlight would often be featured on both he and Iginla whenever the teams matched up. During the 2001-02 NHL season, the two found themselves competing for the Art Ross Trophy for the league's highest point scorer. The following year, both players were featured in a Nike commercial promoting the rivalry between them.

These two teams met again during the first round of the 2004 postseason, and, just like in 1989 and 1994, the series-winning goal was scored in overtime in game seven by Calgary's Martin Gelinas (who was a member of the 1994 Canucks team that reached the Stanley Cup Finals). The Flames advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, however, unlike 1989, they were defeated in the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games.

The subsequent trade by Vancouver for elite netminder Roberto Luongo in June 2006 gave the Canucks a capable opponent to Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff, who has already established himself as one of the top goalies in the NHL. Players from both teams bring out their best when they play against each other, resulting in games of high entertainment value. In addition to the duel between Luongo and Kiprusoff, matchups between Vancouver defenceman Willie Mitchell and Flames captain Jarome Iginla are also noteworthy.

Year	Where they met in playoffs	Result of series	Result of playoffs
1982	Smythe Division Semifinals	Van 3, Cal 0	Vancouver swept by the New York Islanders in Cup Finals
1983	Smythe Division Semifinals	Cal 3, Van 1	Calgary beaten by the Edmonton Oilers in the Smythe Final in five games.
1984	Smythe Division Semifinals	Cal 3, Van 1	Calgary beaten by the Edmonton Oilers in the Smythe Final in seven games.
1989	Smythe Division Semifinals	Cal 4, Van 3	Calgary wins Cup
1994	Western Conference Quarterfinals	Van 4, Cal 3	Vancouver loses to New York Rangers in Cup Finals, which like the series against Calgary, went the full seven games
2004	Western Conference Quarterfinals	Cal 4, Van 3	Calgary loses to Tampa Bay in Cup Finals, which like the series against Vancouver, went the full seven games

Central Division rivalries

Since the 2000-01 NHL season, the Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues have all been in the same division, thus creating stronger rivalries in recent years. Nashville has been in the same division since the 1998-99 NHL season, and Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis have been in the same division since the 1981-82 NHL season. The rivalry between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings is also unofficially known as the "battle of Interstate 94." With the renaming of the Norris Division to the Central Division in the 1993-94 NHL season (minus the Tampa Bay Lightning which moved to the Atlantic Division until the 1998-99 NHL season when they moved to their current division), the rivalries became stronger, with the Detroit Red Wings dominating the division since the 2000-01 NHL season, up until the 2009-10 NHL season, with the lone exception being the 2004-05 NHL season which was cancelled due to a lockout and winning two Stanley Cups during this streak, in 2002 and in 2008.

Perhaps the most intense rivalry in terms of penalty minutes and fighting is between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues, who were both perennial Norris Division contenders in the 1980s and 1990s. It was not uncommon to go to a Chicago vs. St. Louis game and see a brawl (or two—see above in "Norris Division Rivalries") break out.

However, the most intense rivalry is easily between the Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings, which has essentially existed since 1926 and continued ever since through the Original Six days into the present. These two clubs have faced each other in more regular season games than any other two clubs in NHL history.

See also

• List of most common NHL playoff series
• Sports rivalry
• Local derby
• Stanley Cup
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• List of NHL seasons

External links

• Devils-Flyers Recap April 7th, 2007