The Caps' Most Hated Rival
That's what I was curious about, anyhow. I guess the Penguins are supposed to be the Most Hated Rival, after all that playoff heartbreak, but the teams only play each other four times, and not until Dec. 11, and they're not in the same division, so it's all kind of difficult to be an especially hated rival. Official Beat Writer Tarik El-Bashir voted for Carolina, due to divisional and geographic considerations, and the fact that fans can drive to road games. A few players mentioned Tampa Bay, since that's the last team the Caps faced in the playoffs.
"You know what, it doesn't feel like we have a huge rivalry yet with any team," Steve Eminger said, which, if true, is sort of problematic. "I think our division...we're all pretty intense with each other, you know what I mean, [but] it's not like Montreal-Toronto. I think it just develops."
If you were looking for a rivalry, though, I'm here to propose Atlanta, whom the Caps will face tonight. Why not? The teams are 14-14-8 against each other all-time. Atlanta is 10-5-3 at home against the Caps. Washington is 9-4-5 at home against Team Thrash Metal. They both have young Russian superstars. They both face certain apathy issues in their hometown. Both games thus far this season have gone into overtime. And I got some support from the players with my vote.
"Atlanta might be it right now," Ben Clymer said.
"Definitely, for sure, we don't like this team," said Brooks Laich, doing his part. "We don't like them and I'm sure they don't like us. Hopefully it develops into a more bitter rivalry."
The NHL is doing its part, too, since the teams play each other approximately every other day. After tonight, the Caps will have faced Atlanta five times in their last 16 games, dating to last season. This is, of course, part of the "Newish NHL" that everyone loves to write about. People are having great fun attempting to pressure the NHL into changing the new scheduling format, so that there aren't huge gaps between road visits. (Phone booth fans will miss out on the entire Central and Northwest divisions this year.)
"You know, that's the way Gary Bettman wants the new NHL, so that's what we're gonna do I guess," Clymer said. "The only thing I don't like about it is you don't get to see all the teams every year, so it's possible you could make it to the Stanley Cup Finals and play a team you never played before. Which I think is kind of ridiculous."
In media land, this schedule stuff has clearly entered the land of NBA basketballs; very easy to rile people up over, and very easy to write about every day. (Although sadly, you can't throw the new NHL schedule off the roof of RFK Stadium. Actually, I guess you could, but it wouldn't explode. Unless some of the Barra Brava guys attached smoke bombs to it or something.) And just like with the new NBA balls, the issue has been so overcovered that we're now seeing people come to the defense of the change.
"You know what, I don't mind it," Thrashers Coach Bob Hartley said this morning. "That's what the league decided. And I think that they wanted to create rivalries within divisions, and you know, I have no problem with this. Everybody has their own thoughts on how this league should work. To me, I'm a believer that you let the people in charge decide, and you go along with the rules."
Also, none of the players I asked said they were sick of seeing Atlanta yet.
"It's so early in the year," Clymer said. "Talk to me in game 68."
(Actually, the Caps don't play Atlanta in game 68. They do, however, play Atlanta in game 70.)
By Dan Steinberg |
November 3, 2006; 4:16 PM ET
| Category:
Caps
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Posted by: Colin | November 3, 2006 4:28 PM
If Havlat throws another 16 shots on goal at Olie tonight, I guarantee you the Caps will get sick of Atlanta real fast.
Posted by: Tyler | November 3, 2006 4:36 PM
Tyler, I think you mean Hossa. That was insane, though. 16 shots!
I'm kinda upset that I'm not able to see the Caps come out here to Chicago. The schedule is just absurd. Hopefully the league will do something about it. 8 games between 2 teams over the course of the year is just too much. It actually ends up killing the rivalry and wears fans out, just like that whole Yankees/Red Sox charade.
Posted by: Blackaces | November 3, 2006 5:13 PM
Oh yeah, sorry.
The TSN/McKenzie solution on the schedule sounds like a fine idea.
Posted by: Tyler | November 3, 2006 5:39 PM
There is an unholy triumvirate of hate that Capitals fans are REQUIRED to hate (in no certain order, generally based on how old said Caps fan is and which team was most recently faced in the playoffs). Without dispute, they are:
The Philadelphia Flyers
The Pittsburgh Penguins
The New York Rangers
The Southeast Division teams are creeping up the hate scale, but the history between the Capitals and the teams listed above (as well as their much closer geographical proximity) makes them irreplaceable for anyone with a sense of history about the Caps. Certainly I get riled up for Carolina and Tampa games, and increasingly for the Thrashers after the last couple of years, but it's still NOTHING like seeing any of the "Evil Three" host the Caps or come to town!
And, as Colin stated, the "rookie sensation" duel from last season proved to aid in the resurgence of the Caps/Penguins rivalry. The Jagr situation added fuel to the Rangers fire, and the Flyers, well, they're the Flyers.
Posted by: Goat | November 5, 2006 12:03 AM
For me it's the old rivalries that still carry the greatest weight. In order of most hated:
Penguins
Flyers
Rangers
Islanders (though this has abated over the years)
It's basically the same teams we fought so bitterly against in the playoffs through the 80s. That was when Caps hockey was truly intense...and so were the rivalries. The only good hockey rivalries these days seem to be in Canada...or between the Avs and Redwings.
For the current division...I think I dislike Atlanta the most.
Posted by: Danny | November 6, 2006 1:36 PM
Rivalries are built in the playoffs when teams have a lot to play for, a lot to lose, and play repeatedly in hard fought series of games.
That's why the Pens are the Caps biggest rival right now. They have the most current and longest playoff history with the Caps (Yes, Tampa Bay was in the last playoff series against the Caps, but it was a blip on the radar compared to all those Pens-Caps series).
If and when the Caps make the playoffs consistently again, that will determine the new rivals.
Until then, the Pens it is.
Posted by: DCDireWolf | November 6, 2006 3:41 PM
What kind of DC sports fan are you?
The THRASHERS!? Come on, no one cares about Atlanta even when they are good.
There is only one hated rival, and that is PITTSBURGH. Every time they meet, I expect blood.
After Pittsburgh, I'd say the New York Rangers are the next biggest rival, if nothing else for Jagr.
Posted by: Zach | November 7, 2006 3:20 AM
Nothing will ever change the fact that Pittsburgh is our rival. No one else comes close.
Posted by: Rob | November 7, 2006 3:22 AM
Yeah, I realize this rationally, but still, they're playing 32 games against these SE teams. Gotta figure a way to make something out of em, since Washington-Atlanta doesn't exactly cause goosebumps for most NHL fans.
Posted by: Dan Steinberg | November 7, 2006 7:43 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
It may be Pittsburgh, not because of the playoff stuff, but because of the Crosby v. Ovechkin dynamic. It may also be Carolina because of the proximity. I went to school in N.C., and I developed an intenese distaste for the Canes and their fans, so these days I root hard against Carolina. Thsoe would be my two choices.