NHL’s greatest rivalries

By Dave Ricci

The NHL has been the home of some of the most intense rivalries in the history of sports. Here’s a look at some of the league’s most memorable wars.

Original Six: Bruins, Rangers, Canadiens, Leafs, Black Hawks and Red Wings.

As cliché as this statement is, there’s something magical about a game that features two of the NHL’s charter members. Anytime two of these clubs hook up on a national TV broadcast you can count on the announcing team to pump the original six angle.

Yes, some of it is hype, but even today, despite expansion and division realignment, these match-ups continue to carry a special fascination. No matter who’s on the ice, fans can conjure up visions of NHL legends like Bobby Orr, Terry Sawchuk, Gordie Howe, Rocket Richard and others. These games stir up memories, which is why an original six game will always be special.

Wild West: Red Wings versus Avalanche.

You’d be hard pressed to find two teams in today’s NHL that have more disdain for one another than Colorado and Detroit. As both teams emerged as Western Conference powerhouses, they were destined to clash in the postseason. As it turned out, "clashed" would be an understatement.

Claude Lemieux’s cheap shot cross check on Kris Draper set the wheels in motion for what can be considered a blood feud. How often have we seen the highlights of Patrick Roy slugging it out with former Wings goalies Mike Vernon and Chris Osgood? Colorado has won three of their five playoff series, but Detroit has taken two out of three Western Conference Finals match-ups, including last season. This battle is far from over.

Battle of the Q.E.W.: Sabres versus Leafs

Admit it Buffalo, you may hate the Bruins. Loathe the Flyers. Have contempt for the Stars and Canadiens. But whom do you really hate the most? Most fans, without hesitation, will say the Toronto Maple Leafs. Every time Rob Ray landed a punch on Tie Domi, you wished you could take a swing at Domi, too.

The seeds of this battle were planted long before the first Sabres-Leafs game ever took place. In 1969, after 11 seasons of service, the Leafs fired head coach/general manager George "Punch" Imlach. "Punch" held a grudge against his former employers for many years. When the Sabres hired him in 1970 to be their first coach/GM, Imlach was on a mission to beat the Leafs.

On their first trip to Maple Leaf Gardens, Imlach’s fledgling Sabres did just that as they beat Toronto, 7-2, on November 18, 1970. No doubt Imlach was somewhere in hockey heaven smiling when Buffalo eliminated Toronto 4-1 in the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals – the one and only time the two clubs have met in the postseason.

David versus Goliath: Stars versus Oilers

Call this a battle between the haves and have-nots. A class struggle. A big market team versus a small market team. However you choose to classify this battle, on paper the Oilers are overmatched. It’s a classic example of one team having the financial power to spend more, while the other operates on a shoe string budget. Still, the Edmonton Oilers have given the Stars more than a few anxious moments in the playoffs. The two clubs met five years in a row, from 1997-2001, with Dallas winning the last four series. Edmonton waged a fierce battle each night, as 21 of their 32 playoff games were decided by one goal.

Battle of Alberta: Flames versus Oilers

In 1978, the Flames were safely tucked away in Atlanta, while the Oilers were doing business in the WHA. It all changed in 1980, when the Flames relocated to Calgary. These two teams have battled across the western plains of Canada, with the Oilers holding a slight edge in the regular season, with 67 wins, 62 losses and 17 ties. In the 1980s, the Flames ran right into the path of the great Edmonton dynasty teams, but they held their own and made it to two Stanley Cup Finals, winning in 1989. With a new generation of marquee players developing on both teams, this 20-plus-year rivalry shows no sign of ending.

The Battle of Quebec: Canadiens versus Nordiques

One of the best, yet largely forgotten, battles of the NHL’s past. While the Oilers and Flames battled for western Canadian bragging rights, the Montreal Canadiens and Quebec Nordiques did the same in the East. In the run-and-gun, offensive-crazy 1980s, few teams could light up the score boards like the Quebec Nordiques. The brother combo of, Peter Anton and Marian Stastny along with Michel Goulet gave the Habs all they could handle.

Battle of the Big Apple: Rangers-Devils-Islanders

This is a three-way battle for Big Apple bragging rights. No matter where these teams are in the standings or what part of the season they’re in, every game is like the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Fans of the Rangers and Devils will always recall Mark Messier guaranteeing a Rangers victory over New Jersey in Game Six of their 1994 playoff series, as the Rangers marched towards their first Cup in 54 years.