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Before the ultimate rivalry


Slegr

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Rivalries aren't born out of proximity, they're born out of head to head meetings. The reason MTL/BOS, CGY/EDM, etc are such vicious rivalries is because they play against each other so frequently, and in the same division. If you recall, for a while we had a massive rivalry with the Colorado Avalanche. Not so much anymore now that Vancouver is good and Colorado is bad. It ebbs and flows, and Seattle wouldn't be any different.

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Rivalries aren't born out of proximity, they're born out of head to head meetings. The reason MTL/BOS, CGY/EDM, etc are such vicious rivalries is because they play against each other so frequently, and in the same division. If you recall, for a while we had a massive rivalry with the Colorado Avalanche. Not so much anymore now that Vancouver is good and Colorado is bad. It ebbs and flows, and Seattle wouldn't be any different.

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Some rivalries are born largely out of proximity. Oilers/Flames, yes the played often in the playoffs, but the hated swelled because they were only hours apart. Our brief rivalry with the Avs was just playoff circumstance, but it couldn't be sustained when we didn't mean in the playoffs because people could care less about winning or losing to Denver.

Now losing to Seattle would suck, because they're so close. Look at the Sharks, Ducks and Kings. Those teams HATE each other when they play regular season games. Why? Because when their fans cheer after each game, they're close enough to hear each other.

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Yes, but you're confusing fans with the players. The fans don't like each other due to the territory. Do you really think that the players care that the other team is only a couple of hours away? No. They dislike the team because they play them so many times that a rivalry ensues. 'Familiarity breeds contempt'. Especially when you meet a team multiple time in the playoffs.

For example, the Flyers are way closer to the Capitals than Penguins, but the Flyers sure dislike the Penguins more.

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The right players play for the fans. Canucks fans hate Toronto. Guys like Burrows recognize it and step up their game. The players who don't play for the fans also don't show up in the post-season. Trust me, when Seattle gets its NHL team, the Canucks will play hard against them and vice-versa. Sorry to say that proximity does create rivalry. Calgary is the closest team to us, and probably the biggest rivalry in our history. We haven't experienced yet what a team-next-door will do for us.

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No. The players recognize that their opponents are fellow hockey players who are from all over. 'Canucks fans hate Toronto' is a generalization, the players realize this as well. I can't fathom how they would hate a team they play once, maybe twice a year and consider them 'rivals' because some of the fans of the team they're contracted to play for don't like them. I don't hate Toronto. It's their fans I don't like.

And Burrows doesn't like Toronto because as a Montreal fan, he grew up hating them.

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I used some creative license in a lockout, but you have to admit, Seattle/Vancouver would create the real possibility of a crosstown rivalry like we've never had before. It would be a beauty! And when you say 'fans hate Toronto' is a generalization', it's more than a generalization. After Canuck victories, Leaf losses are often a second best in what brings masses of Canucks fans delight.

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