34 replies to this topic

[Todrick]

Saw a thread on this on another board, it is very heated and there are some very strong opinions.

Which actually surprised me.

So, well-educated Hockey fans of AllDucks, who is the Ducks biggest rival?

And yes I searched, but search seems messed up as it just spit out the same "View New Posts" list.

regardless any other poll on this would be out of date now anyway

[West of House]

I have always hated the Phoenix Coyotes for that first playoff series we played against them, and also the Calgary Flames for some reason I can't remember.

I think the Sharks are probably our biggest rivals, but in the grand scheme of things (and in recent years), it's definitely the Red Wings.

Unfortunately, the Red Wings have been around for way too long for us to be real rivals, but maybe someday!

[HillerGirl]

oh wow... that's tough...
LA is like annoying little brother... you are beating him most of the times but it makes it so much harder to lose once in a while... and he gets ALL the attention from "adults"
SJ is like bigger brother but the age difference is no longer that obvious. you love beating him because you remember how he used to beat you, losing is not THAT embarrassing. it's all about bragging rights...
i can't put my finger on Dallas... what i hate about that rivalry is that they will be losing to EVERYONE... they will be trailing for 10 games in and 10 games after, but they will trash Ducks like they are some AHL team more often than not. for some reason they juts keep having our number... especially Jiggy's... even when he is on his top game they seem to have figured him out
and then we have Red Wings... team that everyone out there loves to hate. one of the biggest boys on the block. based on the fact that we swept them being a cinderella team, and then beat them being one of t he best team in the league, and then they beat us when we were on the run of the season, one of the hottest teams coming into the POs, i'd pick them... i sense the most amount of bad blood with those guys

[TroyLoney]

This thread was started at 10:42am and I predict it will be moved, without notice, to the AllDucks polls section by 11:42am. After all, we can't have a poll about who the Ducks biggest rival is cluttering up the board and knocking important threads like "Hmm...beer?", "Ducks Movie" or either of the "Something for Fun" posts down a notch, can we? Those posts and threads belong here while this crap belongs buried in a forum nobody visits and where threads mysteriously disappear entirely! I also predict that this post I am writing right now will have been removed, or at least edited.

As for who I voted for, I picked the Kings because they are the true rivals. For years that the Ducks are an elite team the other elite teams become their rivals but year in and year out the team I like to see the Ducks beat is the Kings. The Sharks are a close second followed by the Stars and Coyotes.

[ladiesandgentlemen]

I think there is a difference between two teams being rivals, and two cities having a rivalry.

There is no question that the Ducks and Red Wings are currently intense rivals, because in their quest to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, each other is their biggest obstacle. This is the very definition of "rival".

On the other hand, there is not much of a "rivalry" between Detroit and Anaheim. Detroit claims to not think about Anaheim much, and when we here in Anaheim think of Detroit, thoughts of their success in hockey are quickly drown out not by only of our own success, but of the overwhelming realization that Detroit is the Armpit of America.

[Ducksrule08]

I voted for the Sharks becuase we have actually meet in the playoffs and it is also a very competitive game. Red Wings come in a close second because of our playoff history. Rivals are made when teams meet in the playoffs and are also competitive games.

[TroyLoney]

There is no question that the Ducks and Red Wings are currently intense rivals, because in their quest to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, each other is their biggest obstacle. This is the very definition of "rival".

Actually, the very definition of rival is: "One who attempts to equal or surpass another, or who pursues the same object as another; a competitor". By that definition every team in the NHL is the Ducks "rival".

You actually help make my point. 10 years ago the Avalanche would have been considered the Red Wings rival but now, not so much because the Avalanche suck. If, in a few years, the Ducks or Red Wings suck then they will not consider each other rivals. However, no matter if the Ducks or Kings suck there is still the sense of a big game when the two teams meet because of the rivalry that has, does and will exist between them for as long as both of them play within 30 miles of each other. The Red Wings may be a rival right now but the Kings are as well and, in 10 years, I can guarantee that the Kings will still be a rival of the Ducks. The Red Wings? No guarantees. Just ask the Avalanche. Are the Red Wings a rival of the Ducks right now? Yes. Are they the Ducks biggest rival, as the question asks? Not in my opinion.

(By the way, we've exceeded the 11:42am deadline I predicted so I guess DropThePuck is asleep.)

[Todrick]

Actually, the very definition of rival is: "One who attempts to equal or surpass another, or who pursues the same object as another; a competitor". By that definition every team in the NHL is the Ducks "rival".

That is why I said "Biggest rival"

[TroyLoney]

That is why I said "Biggest rival"

In that case I vote for the Sharks. The Ducks play them six times a year, minimum, and San Jose is the main thing keeping the Ducks from winning the Pacific Division and earning home ice advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Not to mention San Jose has had a great team for years, is an in-state rival and the two teams met in the playoffs last season.

[Rage]

I voted for Detroit. In my opinion they are the only team that I consider to have a 'heated' rivalry with, or at least the only team at this point in time. TroyLoney makes a good point when describing our adversaries, but I'm sticking with the Wings for now. Honestly, I just don't share that same compassion when we play the Kings. I obviously love beating them, and we mostly have for the last couple of seasons, but I don't get that contender 'jibe' from the Ducks-Kings games. However, I do feel that sense of hatred and possibly some jealousy when we play the Red Wings. That is what makes them, in my opinion, the Ducks biggest rival.

[TheJoeMan]

I feel the rivalry between the Ducks and Red Wings was cemented this spring with the fifth meeting between the two teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

I hate the Red Wings. Hate em. Can't stand them. I can't stand their fans (most of them). I can't stand a lot of their players past and present. I can't stand their goal horn. I can't stand their DJ who plays the most non-arena music ever just because lyrics in the song have some relevance to what just happened on the ice. I hate that they are so good.

But aside from all that the on-ice product suggests they are our biggest rival. They have been the main team in our way towards a championship. Four of the five times we've played each other in the playoffs the winner has gone on to the Final and won the Cup twice. Our series are always heated and intense. This last series so much more contemptuous than the San Jose series.

Speaking of which the Sharks are way up there but there's too much respect for a bitter rivalry. The Kings are more of a sibling rivalry that's only relevant in the regular season. The Wings are our true rival and it'll be that way for a while I feel.

[MrsBevo]

It's a real toss up between Red Wings and Kings. Kings are the neighbor up the freeway and closeness breeds contempt. Haven't met in the playoffs, though. The Red Wings seem to have as many fans of their team in the building as the Kings do when they come to the Honda Center. Both fan bases are obnoxious, although the Red Wings more so because they've won the Stanley Cup. Can't stand either team or their fans.

[2forroughing]

I appear to be alone on this one; which I guess in itself proves me wrong, but I voted for the team that I despise the most... Dallas. I have always despised Modano (as he is a whining crybaby), Ott is a pain in the butt, and then there's Turdo. I spent too many days in Dallas. Listening to the local Dallas Radio in 2003 prior to the series between the Mighty Ducks and them, it was clear the announcers and the callers had no respect for the Ducks whatsoever. They used expressions such as there is a reason they are the number 8 seed, and were looking on to the next series to see who they would face. I felt so damn good when we whooped them.

Then their fans come to our arena and dishonor our country's national anthem by shouting over the singer.

[QuacksMeUp]

Red Wings. All the rest pale in comparison on many levels. Some don't even make it to a comparison on any level.

[Kariya9]

Sharks. Every game we play against them feels like a playoff game. The physical style of hockey takes over every Ducks-Sharks game. I would have said the Kings maybe 5 years ago, but they offer us no challenge or intensity when we play them. The Wings are more of an on and off rivalry for reasons already stated. I will always hate The Stars as well.

[Kenny]

oh wow... that's tough...
LA is like annoying little brother... you are beating him most of the times but it makes it so much harder to lose once in a while... and he gets ALL the attention from "adults"
SJ is like bigger brother but the age difference is no longer that obvious. you love beating him because you remember how he used to beat you, losing is not THAT embarrassing. it's all about bragging rights...
i can't put my finger on Dallas... what i hate about that rivalry is that they will be losing to EVERYONE... they will be trailing for 10 games in and 10 games after, but they will trash Ducks like they are some AHL team more often than not. for some reason they juts keep having our number... especially Jiggy's... even when he is on his top game they seem to have figured him out
and then we have Red Wings... team that everyone out there loves to hate. one of the biggest boys on the block. based on the fact that we swept them being a cinderella team, and then beat them being one of t he best team in the league, and then they beat us when we were on the run of the season, one of the hottest teams coming into the POs, i'd pick them... i sense the most amount of bad blood with those guys

My thoughts exactly. Except I went for the Sharks. The Sharks seem like a full time rival, and the wings seem like a strictly postseason rival.

[chknwng]

Biggest rival: San Jose

Most hated rival: Detroit

Most annoying rival: Dallas

[Rooch20]

Like I said on the other board, I still think that the Kings are our traditional rivals because regardless of where both teams stand, games are always intense. Rivalries with the Wings, Sharks, and the Stars is the result of our success both during the regular season and the playoffs. Games against the Stars and Sharks were not as intense 10 years ago than they are today mainly because of our success. Our biggest rival today, I think, is the Red Wings because we've always had a knack for being their roadblock dating back to the "cinderella" run in 2003.

You actually help make my point. 10 years ago the Avalanche would have been considered the Red Wings rival but now, not so much because the Avalanche suck. If, in a few years, the Ducks or Red Wings suck then they will not consider each other rivals. However, no matter if the Ducks or Kings suck there is still the sense of a big game when the two teams meet because of the rivalry that has, does and will exist between them for as long as both of them play within 30 miles of each other. The Red Wings may be a rival right now but the Kings are as well and, in 10 years, I can guarantee that the Kings will still be a rival of the Ducks. The Red Wings? No guarantees. Just ask the Avalanche. Are the Red Wings a rival of the Ducks right now? Yes. Are they the Ducks biggest rival, as the question asks? Not in my opinion.

Exactly. Because of the close proximity between teams, there will always be a war for SoCal supremacy regardless of how well each team does but as for the Wings, no guarantees.

[Duckbill]

I would say that the Anaheim/Detroit rivalry has definitely picked up thanks to the recent playoff encounters, but I feel that the rivalry with the Sharks has become the "biggest" for both San Jose and Anaheim. The Red Wings have a lot of so called rivalries due to their stature and despite the animosity between our franchises I doubt that there are many Detroit fans that consider the Ducks their biggest rivals.

Since the end of the lockout however, Anaheim and San Jose have been locked in struggles every season for playoff positioning and the Pacific Division. In 05-06 both teams leaped from being out of the playoffs to dueling over the 5th and 6th seeds, then there were the big battles for the Pacific Division for the next two seasons where both teams would go over 100 points in each of those years, culminating in last season with the hard fought playoff series. Being in direct competition for four consecutive seasons stokes the fire better in my opinion. The "Battle of California" aspect doesn't hurt either.

Then there's our freeway neighbors. The games are always brutal, even the more lopsided ones, and the interaction between fanbases is intense, but the proximity can only take you so far I think. LA has done next to nothing since the Ducks were founded. Six consecutive years out of the playoffs, 4 appearances in 15 seasons, 1 playoff series win in those 4 appearances. There has been no direct competition with the Ducks when it really mattered most, except arguably the games in the later half of the 05-06 season when both teams were competing for a lower playoff seed. We all know the Kings fell from second in the West at the beginning of 2006 all the way down to 10th while the Ducks clawed their way to a 6th spot. Well those LA Kings were six points out of a playoff spot at the end of the year, and their record against the Ducks after Jan 1st, 2006 was 1-4-1. But that's it! That's as close as it ever got! We've been hearing for the past two or three seasons now that the Kings are supposed to get really good when all of their young talent starts to gel, but that needs to actually happen and the team needs to compete before the rivalry becomes more than just a few "extra home games" for both sides.

There are a couple of honorable mentions though i'd like to...well...mention. For whatever reason the Dallas Stars play us really really well, especially when i'm attending the game. I think i've only ever seen the Ducks beat the Stars twice live, and in one of those games we nearly crapped it away with 12 seconds left before winning a shootout, some of you might remember that one ;-). The other one was Game 5 of the 2008 playoff series. After that there is Edmonton, although I think this rivalry is quieting down and winding to a close now that we no longer have Burke or Pronger, and Loweball has been moved out of the GMs office where he can do less harm to the Oiler franchise. I've even *shock* met nice people from Edmonton in the past few months (although I still tell them that I cheer for Calgary against them, hehe),

Now for the sound bytes. I don't know if Ottawa fans still hate us, 'cause I'm not picking up much tension anymore. Our rivalry with Minnesota is the decaf version of our playoff rivalry with Detroit. Do the Coyotes resent us because our most legendary player still has their franchise records for goals and points in a season?

[Todrick]

I would say that the Anaheim/Detroit rivalry has definitely picked up thanks to the recent playoff encounters, but I feel that the rivalry with the Sharks has become the "biggest" for both San Jose and Anaheim. The Red Wings have a lot of so called rivalries due to their stature and despite the animosity between our franchises I doubt that there are many Detroit fans that consider the Ducks their biggest rivals.

Then i guess this would surprise you:

Let me start with Anaheim, if I HAD to chose 1 team as our rival, I guess I would have to choose them

Are the Ducks becoming the new Avalanche?

The Ducks have pushed the Wings to their mental and physical limits, and brought the very best our team can be in terms of skill, and the Wings consistently do the same to the Ducks. There isn't a whole lot of serious brawls, but look at this last series: the Wings engaged in four fights. Nobody would have predicted that they would have gotten into four fights throughout the entire playoffs at the beginning of the April, let alone four fights in a single series. They weren't extreme Laraque-like fights, but it takes a lot to get the Wings to drop the gloves, and the Ducks succeeded in doing so four times in seven games. That's about as legit a rivalry as this generation of Wings is going to get.

I hate the Ducks more than I ever hated Colorado.


Unlike Anaheim, Denver is actually a good hockey city. The Ducks are just some "Mickey Mouse Franchise" no one cares about. They are nothing but a drain on the league and I hope they never ever get anywhere near the cup again.

I hope they finish dead last next year.

All from Letsgowings.com

[ducksfan95]

wow to that last comment, somebody hates the ducks cause they know we have the capablities of beating detroit

sounds like theyre scared

[Duckbill]

Then i guess this would surprise you:


All from Letsgowings.com

I figured there would be some, but that's four posters out of how many? Hey if the Red Wings want to fight with us harder than any other team i'm down for it because we'll get more spotlight attention as a result.

[duckfan78]

The Sharks because every time I face San Jose in my sport I see my opponets as "Sharks".

[Todrick]

I figured there would be some, but that's four posters out of how many? Hey if the Red Wings want to fight with us harder than any other team i'm down for it because we'll get more spotlight attention as a result.

that was the first 4 posts in one thread.

Ducks being Detroits current biggest rival is not an uncommon feeling over there.

[Duckbill]

Can you post a link? This sounds really interesting to me and i'd like to see more.