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Canadiens Top Rivals?


sportprof101

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Hope everyone is having a good Saturday! I’m a student at NKU and I wanted to learn more about everyone’s feelings on our rivals and why we feel this way towards them. With the help of message board members beginning in 2014, we—the students and professors of the Know Rivalry Project—began answering this question and others related to rivalry in the NHL. No one knows the rivalries of the Canadiens better than this message board community. Please help us update and expand our results to ensure that the Montreal Canadiens are included by taking 9 minutes to complete our newest survey:

umassamherst.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3FdJ8eN2EgFCfCB?grpID=1379&mbsrc=mb

Our previous results have been featured in numerous sports media outlets, as well as the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. You can view those results, links to media coverage, and learn more about us at our KnowRivalry.com website BUT we’d prefer you didn’t until you completed the survey via the link above… we don’t want to influence your opinions provided in the survey.

We use the Qualtrics online survey software for data collection. This academic research has been approved by two US universities’ Institutional Review Boards (IRB) and it poses no risks to respondents. You’ll find more information on the disclosure agreement that is required to start the survey. There are plenty of other teams you can look into as well on the site if you had other favorite teams. Survey aside I would like to know your personal feelings about your rivals. Thank you for helping us to include the Canadiens by participating and please share this with any other fans that may also help.

Zachary Beal, Northern Kentucky University
Dr. Joe Cobbs, Northern Kentucky University
Dr. David Tyler, University of Massachusetts—Amherst

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Hi, interesting to see you reaching out on the forum

 

I am not sure that I will click on the link you shared, just because I am paranoid about viruses and physhing attacks

 

but I’ll give you this:

 

Historical rivals:

Boston Bruins

Quebec Nordiques (before they moved)

Philadelphia Flyers

Chicago Blackhawks (?)

 

Recent rivalries (some are lukewarm)

Ottawa Senators

Tampa Bay Lightning

New York Rangers

 

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8 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Hi, interesting to see you reaching out on the forum

 

I am not sure that I will click on the link you shared, just because I am paranoid about viruses and physhing attacks

 

but I’ll give you this:

 

Historical rivals:

Boston Bruins

Quebec Nordiques (before they moved)

Philadelphia Flyers

Chicago Blackhawks (?)

 

Recent rivalries (some are lukewarm)

Ottawa Senators

Tampa Bay Lightning

New York Rangers

 

I appreciate the feedback and I understand your concern. With your response we are able to learn more about rivalries in sports in general. Is there a reason behind those rivalries? Thank you.

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1 minute ago, sportprof101 said:

I appreciate the feedback and I understand your concern. With your response we are able to learn more about rivalries in sports in general. Is there a reason behind those rivalries? Thank you.

I’ll reply from my computer later

yiu’llnpribably get some answers from other in the forum before I do

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1 hour ago, sportprof101 said:

I appreciate the feedback and I understand your concern. With your response we are able to learn more about rivalries in sports in general. Is there a reason behind those rivalries? Thank you.

 

Historical rivals:

Boston Bruins -> original 6 team, has played against the Canadiens the most during playoffs. Canadiens (a.k.a Habs) eliminated then in the playoffs for a long stretch. Often they got into general brawls since fighting is allowed in NHL

Quebec Nordiques (before they moved) -> both teams played 2hr away from each other, they had rival breweries as sponsors and rival media conglomerates fueling the narrative for years. Rivalry took off when the Nordiques started contending in hte playoffs and finally eliminated the Habs. Feud pitted family members against each other and played on a background of Montrealers vs Quebequers (Quebec citiy) or Metropolis vs small town

Philadelphia Flyers -> The Flyers built a physical and intimidating team in the 70s. They had talented players but used intimidation and scare tactics to crush their opponents; until the Habs, who have historically had skilled-based teams, bulked up and beat down the Flyers both metaphorically and physically

Chicago Blackhawks (?) -> I am not sure on this one, I remember reading that in the early years of hte NHL, with hte original 6 teams, Chicago and Montreal played some epic games during the playoffs. I think there was some drama with regards to trades between teams and draft picks where one team would try to outsmart the other.

 

Please note, I am going from memory, I did not google any of these. You'll need to dive in more to finish your homework. for your project.

 

Recent rivalries (some are lukewarm)

Ottawa Senators -> The Hans seems to look down on the Senators and to seldom take them as a serious threat. But the Ottawa media and fans play the rivalry up before games and the teams seems to perform really well against the Habs; often winning and making the Montreal team look bad despite having a lesser talented team. In recent playoffs, the Senators have ridiculed the Hans

Tampa Bay Lightning -> For a short period during the early 2000s, before the Lightning became a powerhouse, they seemed to have the Canadian's number. Playing against Tampa Bay seemed to be a guarantied lost game. There is some drama linked to the Lightning GM having been a fan favorite to become the Canadiens GM but the Montreal team not doing everything to get him; this has played into the narrative of seeing the success of Tampa Bay as what would have happened if that GM would have instead been with the Habs.

New York Rangers -> In recent playoffs, the Rangers stood in the way of the Habs closest chance to advance to the playoff finals. There was one play were the Canadiens goal tender got hurt in what fans believe was an intentional way Also, a generation before, there was a game were the Canadiens team came from behind in a game were they were loosing by 5 or 6 goals. That was the beginning of the end for the Rangers upward trend at the time. Both incidents have fueled the impression that games between these teams are often more meaningful than not. There always seem to be an aura surrounding their matches

 

That's it for me. Good luck on your project

Edited by alfredoh2009
changing for less condecending tone. Sorry!
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16 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

Historical rivals:

Boston Bruins -> original 6 team, has played against the Canadiens the most during playoffs. Canadiens (a.k.a Habs) eliminated then in the playoffs for a long stretch. Often they got into general brawls since fighting is allowed in NHL

Quebec Nordiques (before they moved) -> both teams played 2hr away from each other, they had rival breweries as sponsors and rival media conglomerates fueling the narrative for years. Rivalry took off when the Nordiques started contending in hte playoffs and finally eliminated the Habs. Feud pitted family members against each other and played on a background of Montrealers vs Quebequers (Quebec citiy) or Metropolis vs small town

Philadelphia Flyers -> The Flyers built a physical and intimidating team in the 70s. They had talented players but used intimidation and scare tactics to crush their opponents; until the Habs, who have historically had skilled-based teams, bulked up and beat down the Flyers both metaphorically and physically

Chicago Blackhawks (?) -> I am not sure on this one, I remember reading that in the early years of hte NHL, with hte original 6 teams, Chicago and Montreal played some epic games during the playoffs. I think there was some drama with regards to trades between teams and draft picks where one team would try to outsmart the other.

 

Please note, I am going from memory, I did not google any of these. You'll need to dive in more to finish your homework. for your project.

 

Recent rivalries (some are lukewarm)

Ottawa Senators -> The Hans seems to look down on the Senators and to seldom take them as a serious threat. But the Ottawa media and fans play the rivalry up before games and the teams seems to perform really well against the Habs; often winning and making the Montreal team look bad despite having a lesser talented team. In recent playoffs, the Senators have ridiculed the Hans

Tampa Bay Lightning -> For a short period during the early 2000s, before the Lightning became a powerhouse, they seemed to have the Canadian's number. Playing against Tampa Bay seemed to be a guarantied lost game. There is some drama linked to the Lightning GM having been a fan favorite to become the Canadiens GM but the Montreal team not doing everything to get him; this has played into the narrative of seeing the success of Tampa Bay as what would have happened if that GM would have instead been with the Habs.

New York Rangers -> In recent playoffs, the Rangers stood in the way of the Habs closest chance to advance to the playoff finals. There was one play were the Canadiens goal tender got hurt in what fans believe was an intentional way Also, a generation before, there was a game were the Canadiens team came from behind in a game were they were loosing by 5 or 6 goals. That was the beginning of the end for the Rangers upward trend at the time. Both incidents have fueled the impression that games between these teams are often more meaningful than not. There always seem to be an aura surrounding their matches

 

That's it for me. Good luck on your project

How do you not include the leafs in the historical rivalries? Granted, they sucked for most of the post-expansion era, but were probably our biggest rival until expansion.

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2 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

How do you not include the leafs in the historical rivalries? Granted, they sucked for most of the post-expansion era, but were probably our biggest rival until expansion.

 

1. I only came to Canada in 1981, so I have no recollection of the Leafs ever being relevant

2. Since then, the Leafs have not been anything more than media hype even during the Wendel Clark and Mats Sundin periods

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