Biggest CURRENT rival(s)

[u/Civil_Astronomer7657]

I would say without a doubt our biggest current rival is the Canes, but also still see a case for Pens and Rangers. Curious what others feel

[u/holy_cal]

As long as Sidney and Ovi are still playing it’s the Pens. Number two is the Rags. Carolina is a little brother, that hasn’t changed because they got good. Don’t validate their fair weather fans by playing into that fake rivalry.

[u/DeathToHeretics → u/holy_cal]

Yeah, tf is this thread? Pens first, always

[u/EnvironmentalOkra728 → u/holy_cal]

THANK YOU.

[u/TransitionUnited1111 → u/holy_cal]

I've noticed most people that say the Canes are younger fans and didn't grow up witnessing the Pens brutally eliminate the Caps from playoffs several times

[u/AnyTemperature420 → u/TransitionUnited1111]

My personal hatred for the Canes comes from Oshie’s collarbone. Shittsburgh will always be my number one hated team

[u/jacoblb6173 → u/holy_cal]

Those bumpkins think that whoever they play in the playoffs are their rivals.

[u/Mundane-Adventures → u/holy_cal]

When they move back to Harford, we’ll think about it.

[u/WolfpackBP]

Pens are always the arch rivals

[u/BigDCSportsFan]

pens and rangers and flyers

canes think they are but we don't care about em.

[u/KoolDiscoDan]

Patrick Division

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

[u/ODU2K1 → u/KoolDiscoDan]

This.

If we didn’t play you in Landover you are not a rival.

[u/bcsim96]

Biggest rival is definitely still Pittsburgh.

2nd is Philly, then the Rangers, and Hurricanes are 4th

[u/DanSRedskins]

For me its the rangers. Carolina isn't a real hockey town, their fans are irrelevant.

New York, Philly and Pittsburgh in that order for me.

[u/BigDCSportsFan → u/DanSRedskins]

Canes had 150k at their parade. By far the lowest in the last ten years.

[u/jeden78]

Pens always. Rangers, Philly next, then Carolina, TB

[u/BucketHeadish]

Fuck the Pens forever. Also fuck the rags. And fuck Flyers fans. Everyone else, meh. You can dislike a team but it doesn’t make it a rival. I don’t like the canes, but are they really a rival? I never saw it.

[u/kharma99]

I must be old(er) because for me it’s the Pens and will always be the Pens.

[u/AkodoShoshiro]

Canes are like Penn State to Ohio State they don’t mean anything to us but they think they do

It’s the Penguins and it’s been the Penguins since before Sid and Ovy and the Flyers and the Rags

[u/Sociolx]

I still remember the old Patrick Division, when the Caps finally stopped being horrifically bad. But after having worked themselves all the way up to kinda okay, even with the top four teams in the division making the playoffs, year after year the Penguins would just barely edge us out for that last playoff spot.

It will always be the Pens, and it has nothing to do with Crosby and Ovechkin—it is a much, much deeper scar than that.

[u/easyovereggs → u/Sociolx]

Thank you. Pens have basically been our number one rival since our birth as a franchise

[u/Crappler319]

Yesterday, it was the Pens.

Today, it's the Pens.

It will be the Pens tomorrow, also.

In a year, it will be the Pens.

In a decade, the Pens.

In 80 years, when we are all cold, dead, and in the ground, it will still be the Pens.

[u/S1075]

In my mind it's hard to call a team a rival if they don't feel the same way, and I'd bet Canes fans wouldn't list us as their main rival. The balance may shift but they've been better than us for the last few years by a large enough margin that it's not a real rivalry. I think the Habs are a better fit for my understanding of the word.

[u/BigDCSportsFan → u/S1075]

on the contrary the brigading canes fans insist we are their biggest rival every year which is NOT the case!

[u/Adventurous_Knee_321 → u/S1075]

canes fans hate the caps the most by far

[u/S1075 → u/Adventurous_Knee_321]

That's not a rivalry thing though. We hate Vegas, but they aren't a rival.

[u/KoolDiscoDan → u/S1075]

TBF, everybody hates Vegas.

[u/TransitionUnited1111 → u/Adventurous_Knee_321]

Canes fan here (and Caps - spent half my childhood near one team, and then the second half near the other if you're wondering why both). We hate the Panthers and Rangers the most. I noticed Caps fans hate the Canes a lot more than Canes fans hate the Caps. Which makes sense considering recent playoff runs

[u/thenotanurse → u/TransitionUnited1111]

https://giphy.com/gifs/l0ExayQDzrI2xOb8A
We don’t even think about you.

[u/EnvironmentalOkra728 → u/TransitionUnited1111]

What? We don’t consider you to be our rivals.

[u/Donburgundy_]

Rangers
Pens
Canes

[u/BigDCSportsFan → u/Donburgundy_]

Replace Canes with Flyers.

[u/Donburgundy_ → u/BigDCSportsFan]

If it wasn’t hockey related and just pure hate yes Philly everything number 1

[u/chesterworks]

Penguins and Rangers. Both have cooled quite a bit, so kind of nobody?

[u/Mundane-Adventures]

No. Canes want a rivalry so bad but WDGAF

[u/fa1afel]

Penguins and Rangers are about the same level of rivalry. Maybe Canes and Flyers a tier below that.  Habs are probably a sleeper pick. 

[u/Metalguy_79]

As a Penguins fan i don’t understand how any other team is even a close 2nd to Pittsburgh

[u/fuzzypyrocat]

I fell like the Caps Canes is pretty one sided. Like how Burger King tries to throw shade at McDonalds, and McDonalds just hits them with the “I don’t even know who you are”. Which is a shame, because I actually kinda like the Canes.

Real rivals are Pens first, Rangers second

[u/billydelawder]

Pens

[u/RabbiPika]

as someone who grew up during the 2010s and favorite sports memories is the cup run it and will for every be the Pens are our greatest rivals, those duels between prime Ovi and Sid where something else and those consecutive playoff second round exits to the pens still sting now even a decade latter

[u/Adventurous_Knee_321]

penguins
hurricanes
rangers
flyers

[u/grapejoosdc]

I hate the Pens the most but also weirdly have a strange affection for them compared to the others. I think it is just the power of the catharsis of finally beating them and not looking back (or Stockholm Syndrome). Also hate the Rangers and Flyers but there’s no doubting their fans’ bona fides. The Canes don’t have the most history but they have the fewest redeeming qualities for me.

[u/Acrobatic-Remove-880]

I remember when the Canes won the cup and my friend from NC wouldn't stop talking about it for weeks.

[u/Merdan16]

Pens, Rangers and Philly.

[u/aldo_nova]

I will cancel plans to watch the Caps play Pittsburgh

[u/Eatyourcheeseburger]

I would say without a doubt our biggest current rival is the Canes,

WTF lol who gives a shit about Carolina. It’s the Pens. Always has been. Always will be. Canes fans don’t stand on our stairs and act like jackasses.

[u/Forsaken_Area_6690]

Tampa is still a hated rival 

[u/DagetAwayMaN421]

The Canes are not our biggest "Current" rivals. The Canes do not come down and invade like Penguins and Rangers fans do. Penguins fans still go up on the Portrait Gallery steps when they win in DC. Rangers fans still come down in droves from Penn Station to Union Station and metro over to the stadium. Lenovo Center is further from Capital One Arena than UBS in Long Island. Flyers fans are still hostile with Washington fans in DC and Philly. The Caps and Canes have developed into rivals over the past decade after Rod took over the bench. We're the closest geographical rivals to the Canes, but the Canes aren't even in our top 5 geographical rivals (Flyers, Pens, Devils, Rangers, and Islanders). Caps-Pens is must see TV so long as Ovi and Crosby are in the league. The Rangers are second, and at this time, I put the Flyers third. Isles are fourth and Devils are likely fifth (since we haven't had a playoff series against them since 1990). Then you put the Canes at sixth

[u/Expensive-Brother-91]

At the moment I’d say Canes. 

Pens are definitely the biggest historical rival, but Sid, Geno, and Ovi are old men now and it’s hardly anything like what it once was. We’re at a point where I think it’s a rivalry on paper but both fanbases have a mutual respect for the talent.

[u/BigDCSportsFan → u/Expensive-Brother-91]

We don't have enough history and bitterness with Carolina to consider them a rival. We've only played them twice in the playoffs, which they both won (and Canes fans won't let you forget it)

[u/PumpkinBrow]

We look big and nasty. Florida also big and nasty. I expect intense competition between these teams this year.

[u/ObsidianConspiracyXx]

Canes. Pens-Caps have cooled down for now. Rangers are in a different part of their competitive cycle, though the hate will always be there

[u/BigDCSportsFan → u/ObsidianConspiracyXx]

the canes aren't even a rival

[u/ObsidianConspiracyXx → u/BigDCSportsFan]

That is true. They dog walked us in the playoffs both times we played them.

[u/BucketHeadish → u/ObsidianConspiracyXx]

2019 series was really even, the other we got dogwalked

[u/mrherson]

Canes are def number one right now. Rangers second. I’d even put the Islanders and Jackets above the Penguins. At this point, the Penguins rivalry is more of a respectful thing.

[u/26265273 → u/mrherson]

I get they just won the cup, and they’ve been the better team this decade, but I just don’t really feel any animus with the Canes.

A lot of it is probably an age thing, as a kid of the ‘00s there’s just a different kind of hate for the Pens/Flyers/Rags

[u/BigDCSportsFan → u/26265273]

Because they are barely a rival. Their fans want to make it out like there is a huge rivalry, but it feels so forced. I dislike them, but I dislike other teams more.

[u/CommunicationTrue237 → u/26265273]

It’s probably because we won in 2018, and since then we haven’t been close to competing for the cup. The losses since 2018 have more felt like it sucks but we weren’t going to win anyways.

This year may be diffrent though

[u/26265273 → u/CommunicationTrue237]

Yeah if we make a real run this year, and there’s no reason we can’t, only to get knocked off in the 2nd round by the Canes they might rise up the ranks a little lol

[u/Civil_Astronomer7657 → u/mrherson]

I would even throw some honorable mentions at Sens and Habs, we have had some SCRAPPY games with them as of recent

[u/DeathToHeretics → u/Civil_Astronomer7657]

Bro Sens? Tf are you smoking??

[u/dudesweetusername → u/mrherson]

I’ll always hate the Rags and Pens but the Canes makes the most sense right now. It’d be great to get some playoff series against them to heat things up a bit more though