A Pretty Girls Guide to NHL Rivalries (Part 2!)

A Pretty Girls Guide to NHL Rivalries

Part 2

✦ Colorado Avalanche vs Detroit Red Wings

Energy: vintage hatred with documentary-level lore

This rivalry is basically hockey’s version of a family feud that everyone still talks about decades later. In the late 90s and early 2000s, Avalanche vs Red Wings was the rivalry. It had elite teams, playoff drama, bad blood, revenge, fights, and the kind of hatred that didn’t feel manufactured at all. These teams genuinely did not like each other.

Even though it’s not as active now because they don’t meet the same way anymore, the history is so iconic that hockey fans still treat it like sacred lore.

Why you hate them: because this rivalry has receipts.

Why it matters: it was violent, dramatic, emotional, and era-defining.

✦ San Jose Sharks vs Vegas Golden Knights

Energy: the ex who moved on way too fast and got hotter

This rivalry is newer, but it got intense fast. The Sharks were already established in California hockey, and then Vegas entered the league and immediately became successful, flashy, annoying, and impossible to ignore. That alone is enough to make people mad. But then the playoff drama made it personal.

The 2019 Game 7 comeback basically became Sharks mythology and Golden Knights trauma. Even now, when these teams play, there’s still a little bit of “remember what happened?” energy underneath everything.

Why you hate them: Vegas got good too quickly and acted like they owned the place.

Why it’s iconic: one game gave this rivalry permanent lore.

✦ New Jersey Devils vs New York Rangers

Energy: polished rich boy vs your hot, angry ex

This is one of those rivalries where geography does half the work, but the fanbases do the rest. The Rangers have the Madison Square Garden, legacy-franchise, “everyone knows us” energy. The Devils have the younger, sharper, more resentful little-brother-who-grew-up-hot energy. New York acts like New Jersey is beneath them, and New Jersey acts like New York is overrated and dramatic.

When they’re both good, this rivalry gets nasty fast. It’s territorial, emotional, and very much about respect.

Why you hate them: because they’re close enough to make everything personal.

Why it matters: it’s not just hockey, it’s identity.

✦ Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers

Energy: Florida family drama

This rivalry used to feel underrated, but now it absolutely matters. For a while, Tampa was the successful older sibling: polished, experienced, championship-proven, and kind of smug about it. Then Florida turned into the chaotic younger sibling who got aggressive, got good, and stopped caring whether people liked them.

Now the Panthers have their own villain energy, and Tampa still has that dynasty hangover confidence. When they meet, it feels physical, humid, petty, and dramatic in a very Florida way.

Why you hate them: they know exactly how to get under your skin.

Why it’s addictive: it feels like a fight could start over literally anything.

✦ San Jose Sharks vs Los Angeles Kings

Energy: California hatred with playoff trauma

This rivalry is personal in a way that only California hockey can be.

The Kings have that legacy, Hollywood, big-market, Stanley Cup pedigree energy. The Sharks have always felt like the talented, emotional, “we’re right there” team that had the pieces, the fanbase, and the moments, but kept running into heartbreak. And for a while, LA was a huge part of that heartbreak.

The 2014 playoff series is basically the defining trauma here: San Jose went up 3–0 in the series, and then the Kings came all the way back to win in seven games before eventually winning the Stanley Cup. That is the kind of loss that doesn’t just hurt — it becomes part of the lore.

When these teams play, it’s not just NorCal vs SoCal. It’s resentment, history, pride, and the feeling that one side has memories they’ll never stop bringing up.

Why you hate them if you’re a Sharks girl: they turned your worst nightmare into their championship origin story.

Why it matters: California hockey is way messier than people give it credit for.

✦ Dallas Stars vs Colorado Avalanche

Energy: western conference pretty girls who secretly hate each other

This rivalry is slicker than some of the others, but don’t let that fool you. Dallas and Colorado both have that “we’re built to win” energy, but they do it differently. Colorado feels fast, elite, and star-powered. Dallas feels deep, structured, and quietly dangerous. When they meet in the playoffs, it feels less like chaos and more like two girls in the same room pretending they’re not competing for the same crown.

It’s not always loud hatred, but it is tense. Very “smiling in pictures together while absolutely keeping score.”

Why you hate them: they’re too good to ignore.

Why it matters: both teams are usually in each other’s way.

✦ Vancouver Canucks vs Calgary Flames

Energy: western Canada with unresolved issues

This rivalry has that regional, stubborn, “we don’t like you and we don’t need a reason” energy.

Vancouver and Calgary are different kinds of Canadian hockey markets. Vancouver feels dramatic, online, emotional, and permanently on the edge of a breakdown. Calgary feels grittier, more traditional, more “we’ll make this ugly if we have to.”

When they’re both competitive, the games get tense quickly. It’s not always the biggest national storyline, but for the fans involved, it feels personal.

Why you hate them: they are just close enough and different enough to be irritating.

Why it matters: Canadian rivalries always come with extra pride.

✦ Toronto Maple Leafs vs Ottawa Senators

Energy: older sister vs younger sister who remembers everything

The Battle of Ontario is personal in a very specific way.

Toronto is the bigger market, the louder fanbase, the team that gets all the coverage whether they deserve it or not. Ottawa has always had more of a “you people think you’re better than us” edge, which makes every game feel like they’re trying to humble the Leafs.

Even when one team is better than the other, the rivalry still has that built-in irritation. Ottawa wants respect. Toronto wants to act unbothered. Nobody is actually unbothered.

Why you hate them: Toronto gets all the attention, or Ottawa refuses to go away.

Why it matters: it’s sibling rivalry, but with Canadian media pressure.

✦ Dallas Stars vs Minnesota Wild

Energy: the ex who left and the city that never forgot

This one has layers.

Minnesota used to have the North Stars before the franchise relocated to Dallas and became the Stars. So for Minnesota fans, there’s always been this emotional history attached to Dallas. It’s not just another team. It’s the team connected to what they lost.

The Wild are Minnesota’s current team, but Dallas still carries that old wound. When they meet, especially in the playoffs, there’s a bitterness underneath it that makes the rivalry feel deeper than the average Central Division matchup.

Why you hate them: because the history feels personal.

Why it matters: relocation trauma never fully disappears.

✦ Seattle Kraken vs Vancouver Canucks

Energy: new neighbor who immediately started drama

This rivalry is still young, but the potential is obvious.

Seattle and Vancouver are geographically close, aesthetically connected, and already feel like they should be enemies. Vancouver has the established Canadian hockey-market drama. Seattle is newer, cooler, and still building its identity, which makes Canucks fans both curious and annoyed.

It’s not the most historic rivalry yet, but it has all the ingredients: proximity, fan crossover, Pacific Northwest pride, and two cities that absolutely have different personalities.

Why you hate them: they’re too close and too easy to compare.

Why it matters: it feels like a rivalry that’s still writing its first messy chapter.