Posted on 09/27/2005 7:12:31 PM PDT by scott says
The NHL is Starting Over, trying to recapture what makes hockey great. In a five-part series, ESPN.com remembers what made it that way in the first place, hockey's players, rivalries, teams, games and enforcers.
The recipe for a great rivalry includes a measure of time, a healthy dose of hatred and more than a little blood. If you can throw in some politics, slights (real or perceived), and some shared geography, so much the better.
They're the kinds of confrontations which make fans and players alike pore over the NHL schedule, looking for the nights when those teams clash.
They're the kinds of confrontations that inject a level of intensity and excitement into the mundane and everyday.
Historically, the rivalry between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs was fueled by the distinct differences in the Canadian societies of English and French Canada. Even though the threat of Quebec separating from Canada has faded, there remains an electric atmosphere when the two teams square off.
The Battle of Alberta between the Oilers and Flames has always embodied the Western Canadian spirit, more rough and tumble than big-city sophistication.
For sheer hatred, it's hard to top the rivalry between the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche during the mid- to late 1990s, a clash of the new kids on the hockey block and a long-suffering Original Six franchise.
And of course, there's the almost instinctive hostility between fans of the New York Islanders and the Blueshirts from Manhattan.
Some rivalries blossom and then fade, often dependent on the fortunes of the teams involved. But just as one rivalry fades from view, the blood will begin to boil between others, sending fans and players back to the schedule to circle the next time they meet. -- Scott Burnside
Here, in no particular
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
Great choice, I hope we will see more great games between the two teams.
WOOO HOOOO! Come on October 5th!!!!!
Freep mail or ping me if you want on or off the Hockey Ping List.
One of the top multi-sport rivalries of the last ten years...
Tampa v. Philly
Bucs/Eagles
Bolts/Flyers
Good stuff.
And of course, there's the almost instinctive hostility between fans of the New York Islanders and the Blueshirts from Manhattan.
My sense is that the Rangers-Devils rivalry has surpassed the Rangers-Islanders rivalry as the most intense in the New York area, mainly because the Islanders haven't been a serious contender in almost 20 years and the Rangers and Devils combined to win four Stanley Cups from 1994-2003 (and faced each other in the playoffs a number of times in the early 1990s -- including the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals that may go down as the greatest playoff series of all time).
Calgary/Vancouver/Edmonton
Toronto/Senators/Canadiens
Blackhawks/Red Wings and Blues
LA/Anaheim/San Jose.
Your 1st three observations are right on the money...is the last that close??
Can't go wrong with the Original Six either. Detroit/Chicago was huge for years and years, although the Blackhawks have fallen on hard times. Every Wings fan knew who Doug Wilson, the Sutters, Chelios(now a Wing), Savard, and Jeremy Roenick were. Toronto/Detroit is always a war. Wendel Clark was as well known here as in Toronto.
Toronto/Montreal is legendary.
The Blues/Wings have interesting history together. I'm still mad about the Adam Oates trade......
My wife is from Detroit and an avid Red Wings fan and I'm from Missouri and an equally avid Blues fan. It get downright mean around here when they play each other. I really want to see how this season turns out with all of the cuts, trades, retirements etc.
I miss the home and home north (no) star vs. hawks in the old stadium.
Dino vs Savard
Churla vs Grimson.....
Many moons ago.
I'm still mad about the entire Mike Keenan era in St. Louis Blues history. So many guys came and went, it was like the locker room had a revolving door. He and Bret Hull (then the star Blues player) used to take pot-shots at each other in the paper damn near every day of the season.
By the time he was fired, Keenan was the most hated man in St. Louis; the running joke was that he and Tony Banks (the guy who was quarterback for the Rams before Kurt Warner took over) had to leave town under cover of darkness to avoid being shot.
I was at the first game Joel Quennville coached. They introduced him as the new head coach of the Blues, and he got a standing ovation that lasted almost five minutes. But frankly, you could have introduced Bozo the Clown and got the same result; just as long as it wasn't that bastard Keenan.
I got the Probert-McSorley fight from '93 (or was it '94?) on tape somewhere. Damn near five minutes of straight pounding on each other. It was better (and lasted a lot longer) than most of Don King's debacles.
Chris Osgood Vs Patrick Roy And Mike Vernon Vs Roy the year before,
btw,you hunting this year?
Avs/Wings was incredibly intense there for a few years. I'm afraid that it is or has cooled - at least for the players. I think that Sakic is all that is left in Colorado. Who besides Stevie Y/Shanny are left (Draper?) for the Wings? What a great cast of characters that was.
Keep your eyes on a kid that has a decent chance of making the Blue Note's opening day roster - Jeff Hoggan. Watched him play for (4) years of college - he NEVER took a shift off. I'm really hoping he breaks camp with the Blues as opposed to Peoria.
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