Greg Wyshynski, ESPNMar 15, 2024, 07:30 AM ET
CloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
Jon Cooper has coached the Tampa Bay Lightning since 2013. During that time, he has watched the Battle of Florida between the Bolts and the Florida Panthers go from something theoretical to one of the NHL’s most intense feuds.
“They started to get good when we happened to be at the peak. It’s been a battle. And I’m telling you, it’s so much fun to play games against those guys,” Cooper told ESPN. “They for sure circle us on the calendar, as do we.”
The lifeblood of the NHL is rivalries. They’re the most marketable commodity in the league outside of the Stanley Cup itself. They invigorate the fans as much as they do the players and coaches.
But like success on the ice, rivalries come and go. For example, we’re about a dozen years removed from the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks having the most intense and brutal rivalry in the NHL. You’d never know it watching those teams play today.
We last ranked the top team rivalries in the NHL two years ago. Plenty of dynamics have changed since then, although a few feuds remain as intense as ever. So we decided to revisit them as another addition of the Battle of Florida arrives this weekend (6 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN+/Hulu).
The other
31 teams
This entry ranked No. 2 on our list two years ago. At the time, the Golden Knights had amassed quite the rogues gallery of rivals: The Sharks, Kings and Capitals on the ice, and varying degrees of heat with the Jets, Canucks, Avalanche and even the Wild when it came to defending the honor of one Marc-Andre Fleury.
So if “Vegas vs. Everyone” was ranked second then, it has to ascend to the throne of NHL rivalries now. After the swaggering Stanley Cup victory. After the long-term injured reserve creative accounting, which for Vegas has been a matter of opportune timing and for fans of other teams has been derided as salary cap shenanigans. After landing Anthony Mantha, Noah Hanifin and Tomas…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/story/_/id/39731994/nhl-ranking-rivalry-top-10-panthers-lightning-bruins-rangers
Author : Greg Wyshynski
Publish date : 2024-03-15 10:57:14
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