The greatest NHL rivalries of all-time

It makes sense to start old school, and to start in the Great White North. Toronto and Montreal are the two Canadian teams in the NHL’s Original Six. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single NHL fan base that cares more than these two do. The Leafs and Habs are second and first in all-time Cup wins. Also, crucially, even after years of NHL realignment, these two have remained in the same division, and thus play one another all the time.

Sadly, this is a rivalry that realignment has hampered a bit. Detroit and Chicago were Central Division staples for years, the two Original Six teams in the Western Conference. Then, the Wings moved out East, and a little something was lost. However, when the Wings and Hawks get together, it remains intense. Chicago and Detroit are in driving distance of one another, which means opposing fans dot the rink whenever these two square off. That means a lot of oppositional chanting.

Hall of Famer Denis Potvin retired at the end of the 1987-88 season. He’s an Islanders legend. Even now, what is the chant you hear in Madison Square Garden second only to, “Let’s go Rangers?” That would be “Potvin sucks!” Sometimes Rangers fans chant it when the Islanders aren’t even the opponent! Now that’s a quality rivalry.

When the Flames left Atlanta for Calgary, a new rivalry was born. The Battle of Alberta pits teams from the two biggest cities in the province against one another. In the ‘80s both were frequently competing for Western Conference titles. Even as fortunes ebb and flow, the Battle of Alberta remains intense.

The Steelers and Eagles play in different conferences. The Phillies and Pirates play in different divisions, and don’t have much of a rivalry. On the other hand, the Flyers and Penguins are a true rivalry within the confines of the Keystone State. The teams joined the NHL at the same time, in the big expansion of 1967 that doubled the size of the NHL. It was easy to root against the Broad Street Bullies, and in the years since the Flyers fans have found plenty of vitriol for Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby. Plenty of playoff matchups have helped as well.

This rivalry has finally sparked in recent years. It helps that the Panthers and Lightning have been good at the same time for perhaps the first time ever. Tampa’s quasi-dynasty ended, and Florida stepped in as perhaps the best team in the East. Thanks to a few playoff battles in short order, and the increased popularity of the Lightning and Panthers locally, this is now a fun rivalry that will hopefully only grow.

Familiarity, and proximity, build contempt. Anaheim exists in the shadow of Los Angeles as is. The Ducks forever live in the shadow of the Kings, and that has been true even when the Ducks have been the better team. As Anaheim has been rebuilding, the rivalry has maybe abated a bit. Give it time, though. As soon as the Ducks are a threat to the Kings again, this rivalry will become heated once more.

The bad blood will never fully die. In the 1990s, and into the early 2000s, no rivalry was more intense than Detroit and Colorado. The day Claude Lemieux delivered his inexcusable check to the back of Kris Draper, a powder keg was lit. When Lemieux turtled as these two teams squared off in a game full of fights, it ensured the hostilities would continue for a while. This was one of those rivalries the players felt as much as the fans. That may no longer be true, but the fans will never fully let it go.

Playing in upstate New York, the Sabres don’t really have a rivalry with the Rangers or Islanders. Instead, the Maple Leafs are their top rival. They have proximity to one another, and also share a division. Outside of Brett Hull, Sabres fans probably have more antipathy toward the Maple Leafs than anybody. Both teams are also fighting to put bad stretches behind them. The Maple Leafs have the NHL’s longest Cup drought among teams who have won the championship (a group of which the Sabres have yet to join), while the Sabres have the longest playoff drought.

As the sole Original Six team in the Western Conference, Chicago’s oldest rivals don’t come around as much these days. Fortunately, as far as anybody alive is concerned, the Blues have been around as long, or almost as long, as we can remember. They joined the NHL in 1967 and quickly began to foster a rivalry with the Blackhawks. When both teams have been doing well, it’s quite heated, and the presence of Connor Bedard in Chicago gives Blues fans somebody to boo, because hockey fans love to boo a guy just because he’s really good.

This rivalry is going to abate a bit in a couple years, but isn’t likely to ever fully fade away. Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. The best players of their generation. Two guys who debuted in the same season (thanks to, ugh, the worst lockout in American sports history) and helped turn their teams' fortunes around almost immediately. Both have hoisted Cups as captain. Their personal rivalry became a team rivalry and a fan base rivalry. Eventually, Crosby and Ovechkin will be retired, but the hostility will stick around.

For whatever reason, it doesn’t feel like the Islanders and Devils have much of a rivalry. The Rangers and Devils are a different story. The Broadway Blueshirts are the team across the state line the Devils are vying against. A few big playoff matchups in the 1990s definitely helped. Mark Messier’s guarantee and all that good stuff.

In the 1970s, the Bruins and Canadiens were vying against one another for a spot in the Cup finals on a regular basis. They were rivals before then, sure, and remain rivals now, but that was a glorious time for this battle. Boston and Montreal play in the same division, and presumably always will. There are decades of hostility built up. Also, let’s be honest. Canadiens’ fans tend to be pretty big haters in general. Hey, that’s good for building rivalries!

In the ‘90s, the Leafs got a new rival. The Senators plopped down in Ottawa, giving Ontario two teams. Toronto may be the biggest city in Canada, but Ottawa is the nation’s capital. That sort of stuff matters to fan bases. There was a stretch there when both franchises were quite good as well. If that can happen again, this rivalry will be popping off once more. Or maybe Brady Tkachuk just needs to fight Auston Matthews.

The Blackhawks had the Red Wings. The Maple Leafs had the Canadiens. So, in theory, the Bruins had the Rangers. It’s true, they did have one another, but this rivalry just doesn’t hit as robustly as those two. Oh, it’s a quality rivalry, to be sure. It’s just not seething with bad blood, and the two don’t even play in the same division. Still, there is a ton of history here, and there always will be, and that counts for a lot.

You don’t have to twist the arms of Philadelphians and New Yorkers to get them invested in a rivalry. While the Rangers and Flyers don’t exactly send one another Christmas cards, the Islanders have proven to be a more-robust rival. This began in the 1980s, specifically the 1980 Stanley Cup Final that pitted these teams against one another. While the Islanders and Flyers’ rivalry started to dissipate a bit in the ‘90s, it has heated up in fits and starts. If nothing else, they can battle over who wears orange better.

Before the Flames moved from Atlanta, the Oilers had another rival in Western Canada. That would be the Winnipeg Jets, a fellow WHA team turned NHL team. Of course, the Oilers and Jets rivalry didn’t die down — it died, as the franchise moved to Arizona and became the Coyotes. Then, it was reborn. Speaking of Atlanta, the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg, became the new version of the Jets, and the rivalry was able to kick back up to some degree.

We say “Canadiens-Avalanche,” and sure there’s some Patrick Roy there. However, we’re really talking about the days before the Avalanche. After all, they were once the Quebec Nordiques. Back then, the Habs and Nordiques had a heated, robust rivalry in the province of Quebec. French Canadians have never cared about a rivalry this much. It may be in the past, but it will never go away completely.