{"id":324019,"date":"2025-10-22T14:18:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T14:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/324019\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T14:18:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T14:18:17","slug":"the-24-wikipedia-pages-for-nhl-rivalries-ranked-by-their-single-wildest-passage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/324019\/","title":{"rendered":"The 24 Wikipedia pages for NHL rivalries, ranked by their single wildest passage"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love a good hockey rivalry. The sport has been blessed by some absolute beauties over the years<\/a>, and there\u2019s nothing quite like watching two teams square off in a matchup soaked in history, trash talk and bad blood.<\/p>\n

I also love a good Wikipedia entry, which I\u2019ll admit is an odd thing to say. But if you go deep enough down the rabbit hole, you can usually find some weird stuff some agitated editor has managed to slip into the record, quite possibly after months of debate with a different agitated editor. That\u2019s my favorite part.<\/p>\n

Today, let\u2019s combine these two passions by reviving an old gimmick: Finding the single weirdest sentence on hockey-related Wikipedia pages. I\u2019ve tried this before, with NHL teams<\/a> and NHL arenas<\/a>. Today we\u2019re going to try NHL rivalries, which has a main page here<\/a> which then links off to two dozen that have been granted the honor of having their own page.<\/p>\n

Yes, there are 24 rivalries that have earned their own Wikipedia page. That simultaneously feels like too many, and also not enough, because some solid matchups like Montreal Canadiens\/Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres\/ Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks\/Vegas Golden Knights don\u2019t make the cut. If this bothers you and you\u2019re someone who has figured out how to edit Wikipedia, then you know what to do.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve gone through each of our 24 options and pulled out a single passage that really captures the spirit of the thing. Then I ranked them from least to most weird because sports lists that aren\u2019t ranked are the coward\u2019s playground. Let\u2019s do this.<\/p>\n

24. New York Islanders\/Washington Capitals<\/p>\n

Then, at 14:37 of the third period, Bryan Trottier scored to tie the game at two. No one in attendance at the Cap Centre or watching at home on TV knew it yet, but the game had not yet reached its halfway point.<\/p>\n

You know there\u2019s one guy who was watching the game who\u2019s like, \u201cActually, I did know it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Look, I\u2019ll just go ahead and say it: The Wikipedia folks got a little carried away with the old Patrick Division rivalries, and there are going to be a few entries here that probably don\u2019t actually deserve their own page. This one is basically 50 percent Easter Epic, and a big chunk of the rest is Dale Hunter\u2019s hit on Pierre Turgeon. Does that deserve its own page? Apparently somebody thought so.<\/p>\n

(I\u2019d make a joke here about East Coast bias except that, I kid you not, there is a section of the main rivalries page<\/a> about East Coast bias. Look, it\u2019s not our fault you western hippies schedule all your games for midnight, when decent people are already asleep.)<\/p>\n

23. Toronto Maple Leafs\/Ottawa Senators<\/p>\n

Games between the teams are often televised nationally on Hockey Night in Canada.<\/p>\n

No way! Not these two (checks notes) Canadian hockey teams! That\u2019s the third sentence on the page, by the way.<\/p>\n

Honorable mention to: This caused an uproar with the Maple Leafs, in part because they also lost the game 7\u20131. It\u2019s about the Daniel Alfredsson stick throw, although it could also apply to 90 percent of Leafs games from the Harold Ballard era.<\/p>\n

22. Calgary Flames\/Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n

The teams met again on January 29, which saw (Matthew) Tkachuk and (Zack) Kassian fight near the end of the first period, with Kassian saying, \u201cThanks kid, I appreciate you doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m trying to think of what could be more Canadian than saying \u201cthank you\u201d to somebody for letting you pummel them in a hockey fight. Maybe Kassian could have hummed a few bars of a Rush song and then hit him over the head with a box of Timbits that has three coconut ones even though you specifically said no coconut.<\/p>\n

21. Washington Capitals\/Pittsburgh Penguins<\/p>\n

The two rivals did not meet in the playoffs again until 2000\u2026 Unlike the other series in the playoffs, this matchup was played with a 1\u20132\u20132\u20131\u20131 format \u2026 This special format caused many Capitals fans to feel irate, fearing the new format would put the team at a serious disadvantage, being in an 3\u20130 series hole when they returned home for game four. These worries came true after the Penguins won the first three games in the series, starting with a 7\u20130 win at the MCI Center.<\/p>\n

There are no truer words that can be spoken about the Capitals\u2019 side of this rivalry than \u201cthose worries came true.\u201d<\/p>\n

20. Los Angeles Kings\/San Jose Sharks<\/p>\n

A notable early moment in the rivalry came late during the 1993\u201394 season, when all three California teams \u2013 the Kings (who had gone to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final), Sharks (then in only their third year of existence), and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (then in their inaugural season) \u2013 battled for the eighth and final playoff spot in the newly-renamed Western Conference.<\/p>\n

OK, a couple of things here. First, three teams battling for eighth place doesn\u2019t actually sound all that exciting. Also, the \u201cbattle\u201d saw the Sharks earn the spot with 82 points, while the Ducks had 71 and the Kings had 66, so what kind of late-season slugfest are we pretending happened here?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be honest, this page may be the most disappointing in this post. The Kings and Sharks rivalry is a great one, but this page is basically just play-by-play of various playoff games. They don\u2019t even have the Drew Doughty \u201cyou could see it in their eyes<\/a>\u201d quote! Huge missed opportunity. This one should rank so much higher.<\/p>\n

19. Toronto Maple Leafs\/Boston Bruins<\/p>\n

In game seven, the Maple Leafs jumped to a 4\u20131 lead in the third period, aided by two goals by Cody Franson.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot going on with this page, including historical incidents like Eddie Shore attacking Ace Bailey and Pat Quinn\u2019s hit on Bobby Orr. But I\u2019m going with the setup to the rivalry\u2019s most famous game of the modern era, which makes sure to note that Franson had two goals. In related news, it would appear Cody Franson is a Wikipedia editor.<\/p>\n

18. Los Angeles Kings\/Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n

The rivalry was widely known to be one of the most fierce matchups through the 1980s and 1990s with frequent playoff matchups occurring, in addition to the notorious trade of Wayne Gretzky and Marty McSorley.<\/p>\n

Ah yes, if there are two things I remember about 1988, it was the notorious trade of Wayne Gretzky and Marty McSorley, and the release of the classic movie \u201cDie Hard\u201d starring Bruce Willis and Miscellaneous Extra In Background.<\/p>\n

17. Toronto Maple Leafs\/Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n

The Canadiens\u2013Maple Leafs rivalry is central to the children\u2019s book The Hockey Sweater, in which the protagonist, a Canadiens fan presumably based on author Roch Carrier as a child, is forced to wear a Leafs sweater.<\/p>\n

For those wondering, \u201cprotagonist\u201d is a fancy word for \u201csnotty little brat who can\u2019t show a little gratitude to his hard-working mother that just wants him to wear a nice sweater for once, and can\u2019t last even one shift of a hockey game without having a full-on temper tantrum on the referee like the crybaby Canadiens fan that he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honorable mention: Montreal was historically viewed as Canada\u2019s cosmopolitan centre for culture; which contrasted Toronto\u2019s pre-World War era reputation as a small city and bastion for \u201cVictorian morality.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a 500-word section on \u201ccultural impact,\u201d in case you were wondering if this page goes insanely hard.<\/p>\n

16. Washington Capitals\/Philadelphia Flyers<\/p>\n

Flyers goalie Ron Hextall and Capitals forward Rob Pearson got into a notable scrum in February 1995 but (it) was the last notable moment between the two teams for many seasons.<\/p>\n

Aw, this one sounds kind of wistful. (Watches the clip<\/a>.) OK, that might not be the right word.<\/p>\n

But yeah, Pearson was an underrated 1990s crazy guy who ended up in a lot of these things. When he wasn\u2019t fighting the other team\u2019s goalie \u2014 yes, that happened more than once<\/a> \u2014 he could often be found annoying Bob Probert and having that end exactly like you\u2019d expect<\/a> or having linesmen try to push him down a flight of stairs<\/a>. Rob Pearson ruled.<\/p>\n

15. Vancouver Canucks\/Calgary Flames<\/p>\n

During the first intermission, (Canucks coach John) Tortorella angrily confronted the Flames in the hallway and continued to berate them as they went to their dressing room before players and staff from both teams broke it up. <\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: Strong writing will avoid redundant or unnecessary words, such as describing literally any action by John Tortorella as being done \u201cangrily.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n Winnipeg Jets fans hold up a sign of John Tortorella\u2019s infamous confrontation with the Calgary Flames during the coach\u2019s subsequent suspension in January 2014. (Marianne Helm \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

14. Los Angeles Kings\/Anaheim Ducks<\/p>\n

Prior to 2007, there was no official name for the regular season meetings between the Ducks and Kings. The \u201cFreeway Face-off\u201d name was chosen by a poll of 12,000 local ice hockey fans. Other names being considered were \u201cFreeze-way Series\u201d and \u201cIce-5 Series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fun fact: If they had gone with \u201cfreeze-way series,\u201d the NHL would have taken emergency measures to disband both franchises and hold a dispersal draft.<\/p>\n

13. New York Islanders\/Philadelphia Flyers<\/p>\n

[T]he two teams have developed a rivalry that bubbles like tar in August, that shimmers like heat waves off an expressway in the dog days of summer.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a quote of a 1980 passage by the legendary Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Bill Lyon, and it\u2019s fair to say that they just don\u2019t make sportswriting like that<\/a> anymore. I don\u2019t know what to tell you, maybe try hiring some actual wordsmiths instead of lazy bums who just cut-and-paste from Wikipedia pages.<\/p>\n

(Honorable mention: The rivalry effectively became dormant for the next 30 years \u2026 Yeah, this is another Patrick Division one that maybe didn\u2019t need its own page.)<\/p>\n

12. Philadelphia Flyers\/New York Rangers<\/p>\n

When the third period was about to begin, President George W. Bush addressed Congress and America about the war on terrorism. After his speech, the teams opted not to play the third period, and the game ended in a 2\u20132 tie; afterwards, the two teams shook hands in a show of respect.<\/p>\n

Yes, this actually happened, and yes, it was absolutely as strange as it sounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

11. Chicago Blackhawks\/Detroit Red Wings<\/p>\n

On a visit to Olympia Stadium in Detroit in the 1960s, Hull was heckled by three Red Wings fans who eventually climbed the glass and dangled their arms over it before he hit them with his stick.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry, but this story just doesn\u2019t ring true. Three Red Wings fans were dumb enough to climb the glass and heckle a rival player until he physically assaulted them? Like, only three? Seems low.<\/p>\n

10. Boston Bruins\/Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n

\u2026 there is no scale to measure the visceral abhorrence I harboured for the Canadiens \u2026<\/p>\n

This is another legendary sportswriter, in this case, Cam Cole. If you\u2019d like to read the quote outside of Wikipedia, you can find the original article here<\/a>. Or you can wait a few days for my \u201cvisceral abhorrence\u201d Canadiens tattoo to finish healing on my forehead.<\/p>\n

9. New Jersey Devils\/New York Rangers<\/p>\n

The rivalry was also seen in the short-lived 2003 sitcom \u201cWhoopi,\u201d starring Whoopi Goldberg in the episode \u201cSmoke Gets in Your Eyes\u201d, where it featured Devils stars Scott Gomez, Jay Pandolfo, and Scott Stevens. Rangers players that were featured on the show included Anson Carter and Darius Kasparaitis.<\/p>\n

I had no idea that Whoopi Goldberg had a sitcom for one year back in 2003. And I definitely had no idea they apparently had a hockey-themed episode.<\/p>\n

I think my favorite part of this story is that the Devils clearly took this opportunity seriously, sending both their captain and their first-line center. Meanwhile, a Rangers team that had Mark Messier, Jaromir Jagr, Brian Leetch and Eric Lindros decided to send Anson Carter and Darius Kasparaitis. When you\u2019re getting little-brothered in sitcom casting, that\u2019s a real rivalry.<\/p>\n

Honorable mention: Although not illegal, many NHL commentators and players described Avery\u2019s actions as inappropriate. This is referring to the time Sean Avery tried to screen Martin Brodeur, but it feels like it could actually apply to literally everything else Avery has ever done in his life.<\/p>\n

8. Pittsburgh Penguins\/Philadelphia Flyers<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir antics reached a new high, as during game three of the 2018 playoffs, pictures of Crosby appeared in the urinals inside of Wells Fargo Center.\u201d<\/p>\n

I like how they use the word \u201cappears,\u201d which makes this sound like the worst magic trick in history. That said, full credit for the use of the word \u201cantics.\u201d Settle down, you rapscallions!<\/p>\n

7. St. Louis Blues\/Chicago Blackhawks<\/p>\n

Perhaps the defining moment in that 1990\u201391 season came in a brawl during the Blackhawks\u2019 6\u20134 win over the Blues on March 17, 1991. The game became known as the \u201cSt. Patrick\u2019s Day Massacre\u201d for the massive amount of fighting and penalties handed out to both teams.<\/p>\n

Wait, why did you call it a \u201cmassacre,\u201d isn\u2019t that a little over the top or\u2026 ah, I see, never mind<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Honorable mention: Belfour, who said he had been interfered with on the goal, caused thousands of dollars\u2019 worth of damage to the visitors\u2019 dressing room at the Arena, breaking a coffeemaker, hot tub, and television among other objects. <\/p>\n

Do you think he threw the coffeemaker at the TV, or the TV into the hot tub? The answer, I\u2019d assume, is \u201cboth.\u201d<\/p>\n

6. Toronto Maple Leafs\/Detroit Red Wings<\/p>\n

On January 13, 1986, the Maple Leafs and Red Wings played a regular season game that involved a brawl lasting nearly 20 minutes. After the Leafs scored their sixth goal, the Red Wings\u2019 head coach, Brad Park, sent his players over the boards, and Leafs head coach Dan Maloney followed suit. During the brawl Maple Leafs assistant coach John Brophy attempted to engage Park, although he was held back by the usher.<\/p>\n

I highly recommend the Leafs\/Wings page, as it goes into a ton of detail and really brings home just how wild hockey was back in the day. We have bench-clearing brawls, a referee being assaulted, guys fighting in the penalty box and multiple instances of police being called. But I\u2019m going with the 1986 brawl \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 mainly because I desperately want to know more about this usher who held back John Brophy from fighting. If you can get this guy<\/a> to settle down, you should be on the ice dealing with Joe Kocur, not helping people find their seats.<\/p>\n

(Also, the page includes a section titled \u201cStagnation and the modern era: 1998 to present,\u201d which will also be a chapter title in my upcoming life story.)<\/p>\n

5. New Jersey Devils\/Philadelphia Flyers<\/p>\n

Afterwards, a fan threw a road flare onto the ice that caused smoke to halt play. The fan who threw the flare ran out of the 11th Street exit of the arena but when the PA announcer asked the crowd to point out the culprit, the home crowd pointed out an innocent Devils fan.<\/p>\n

Hell yeah. Look, it goes without saying that fans should never throw anything on the ice, least of all something as potentially dangerous as a road flare. But having the presence of mind to spontaneously frame a member of the rival fan base is just A+ situational awareness by Flyers fans here. Bonus points for AP headline after the game: \u201cNew Jersey Devils lose flare-up to Flyers, 3-2 in OT<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Tampa Bay Lightning\/Florida Panthers<\/p>\n

(Phil) Esposito\u2026 began to make disparaging remarks about the Panthers organization, referring to them as \u201cpussycats.\u201d All of this upset Florida general manager Bobby Clarke, who \u2026 retorted that Esposito shouldn\u2019t call anyone a \u201cpussycat,\u201d considering \u201cthe way he used to play.\u201d Shortly afterwards, Esposito jokingly gave Clarke a kiss on the cheek on a live television interview, incensing the Florida GM.<\/p>\n

This would be the two teams\u2019 inaugural GMs, who had plenty of history dating back to their playing days. Personally, I think we need more hockey rivalries that are ignited by one GM kissing the other on live TV.<\/p>\n

3. New York Islanders\/New York Rangers<\/p>\n

One well-known incident at an Islanders\u2013Flyers game in 2003 turned a holiday promotion at Nassau Coliseum into an on-ice shoving match between Rangers and Islanders fans in Santa suits.<\/p>\n

Honestly, I\u2019m pretty heartbroken that this incident only gets one sentence of coverage, when it probably deserves its own page.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at the little guy getting him!\u201d Hockey is the best.<\/p>\n

2. Colorado Avalanche\/Detroit Red Wings<\/p>\n

The Avalanche never ate anything in Detroit that wasn\u2019t prepared by their own chefs, and always had issues at Joe Louis Arena from lack of hot water, noxious paint in the locker room, to pre-game meals that didn\u2019t show up.<\/p>\n

\u2026 and \u2026<\/p>\n

On the day of the game, The Detroit News printed a \u201cwanted\u201d poster of Lemieux with a prison number under his photo under the headline \u201cA Time For Revenge\u201d, and compared Lemieux to a carjacker.<\/p>\n

\u2026 and \u2026<\/p>\n

The blood pouring from Lemieux turned into a three-foot section of ice crimson.<\/p>\n

\u2026 and \u2026<\/p>\n

(Mike) Vernon was so convinced that he was ejected that he went to his locker stall only to have an official race in to tell Vernon to put his gear back on and get back in net.<\/p>\n

Sorry, I couldn\u2019t pick just one. And this is just from the rivalry page<\/a>; there\u2019s an entire other page dedicated just to the Fight Night at the Joe game<\/a>, which contains the classically ice-cold \u201cI knew your father before you did\u201d line from Scotty Bowman.<\/p>\n

I especially love the Vernon one, since it\u2019s a fun reminder that Paul Devorski handed out just 22 minutes in penalties for the entire brawl, which is the same number we see today when somebody shoots a puck over the glass and then two guys have to get misconducts for giving each other dirty looks about it.<\/p>\n

In fairness to Devorski, though, he probably just wanted to make sure he didn\u2019t give out so many penalties that he couldn\u2019t list them all before the next brawl. Why yes, that is a thing, thanks for asking\u2026<\/p>\n

1. Montreal Canadiens\/Quebec Nordiques<\/p>\n

Ten players were thrown out of the game between both brawls, but several were not immediately told of their ejections after the first one, as the officials had not finished recording all of the penalties during the intermission. A 10-minute-long bench-clearing brawl occurred after the announcement of the ejections, and the total number of penalty minutes in the game exceeded 250.<\/p>\n

When you have so many ejections after a bench-clearing brawl that you don\u2019t have time to tell the players, who then return to the ice for a second, even larger bench-clearing brawl \u2026 you might have a hockey rivalry.<\/p>\n

Somebody please bring back the Nordiques so we can revive this rivalry. (Checks recent headlines<\/a>.) You know what, we\u2019ll take it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I love a good hockey rivalry. The sport has been blessed by some absolute beauties over the years,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":324020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[3115,3103,3113,291,2995,2993,2997,1323,2081,3104,2994,1301,1302,293,3105,3108,1334,1328,62,2996,3106,1304,67,132,68,3114,3109],"class_list":{"0":"post-324019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-anaheim-ducks","9":"tag-boston-bruins","10":"tag-calgary-flames","11":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","12":"tag-colorado-avalanche","13":"tag-detroit-red-wings","14":"tag-edmonton-oilers","15":"tag-florida-panthers","16":"tag-los-angeles-kings","17":"tag-montreal-canadiens","18":"tag-new-jersey-devils","19":"tag-new-york-islanders","20":"tag-new-york-rangers","21":"tag-nhl","22":"tag-ottawa-senators","23":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","24":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","25":"tag-san-jose-sharks","26":"tag-sports","27":"tag-st-louis-blues","28":"tag-tampa-bay-lightning","29":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","30":"tag-united-states","31":"tag-unitedstates","32":"tag-us","33":"tag-vancouver-canucks","34":"tag-washington-capitals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}