The true rival of the Anaheim Outlaws has certainly morphed over time, since I've been part of the organization since the beginning. The first one that emerged was definitely Montreal. We lost to them in our first "true" playoff appearance (of course we made it in S45 but nobody was really holding their breath). We had an opportunity for revenge in the S47 Four Star Cup and we won a classic series in seven games. Montreal was competitive next season but fell off after that.
I'd say that right now that Nevada is our main rival by virtue of being in the same division as us. With the level of parity in today's SMJHL, we have to root for them to lose literally every game to get that pennant. Colorado ain't shit tbh. Across the league, I have a rivalry with QCC mostly, because @ztevans and @Faelax are there and it's always fun to watch Donair-Beranek battles. We've been getting the upper hand lately, but that whole squad is great, so hopefully some epic playoff matchups are imminent.
I consider Quebec City Citadelles as the rivals of Maine Timber. It all started when Alexander Roach, after becoming a franchise legend in Maine, egregiously defected to Quebec City during the expansion draft. It left a mark, and since that there has always been extra tension between the two teams. It's something that could diminish in the future seasons as the players who experienced the expansion draft will move on from Maine, but it's still on. The hurtful thing is that Quebec City has definitely been the better team when the two have faced each other recently. Timber won the season series in S55 in S56, but S57 Quebec has won 5 of the 6 games, Maine only getting one overtime win. With Timber losing a bunch of the older players this season, this season may be the peak of this rivalry unless something new happens. Would be sweet to see the divison rivals meet each other in the playoffs.
For us in tampa its gotta be a combo of bap/ ham
I only say ham because fuck them kids there gonna get theres from tampa as time goes on. For now tho we do get lit playing bap and shit is lit foreall. Fiddler does get amped up super high playing ham tho and them boys feel him when we touch down in the ice. Seriously like fiddler gets ready to run though walls playing them. It's always nice wen we can pull out a dub on ham it's kind if like our super bowl. Teams will always try to throw shade at tampa like there something special but really there just jealous that by s62 we will be everyone rival these teams have no clue what's coming for them. All in all many rivals will he burn and many jokes will be told it's only a matter of time before the league feels the wrath if Tampa two times.
Hamilton's biggest rival is passing the puck. Wait, you asked which team. Ok, it's probably Buffalo with Edmonton close 2nd. We played Edmonton quite a lot in the playoffs recently, twice in the finals and in the Western conference finals last season, or whatever you call that. Plus Keygan's first player was drafted by Hamilton and traded later, that was years ago and I wasn't around for that but I know there was some drama there. As for Buffalo, we are in the same division and it is objectively the strongest division in the league. I'm too lazy to check but I'm pretty sure for the last 10 seasons either Buffalo or Hamilton won the Great Lakes, we've also played each other in the playoffs literally every season. Ham vs Buf in the playoffs is so inevitable that Buffalo reverse swept Chicago last season while Hamilton barely avoided a reverse sweep by Edmonton. Would I be surprised if the challenge cup finals for the next 3 seasons is ham vs buf? I would be a little surprised, but that's fairly possible.
It's hard to pick a rival for the Quebec City Citadelles, given their short tenure in the league. One obvious pick would be their opposite expansion team, the Nevada Battleborn. But the Battleborn might be a rival to the Citadelles for another reason too: that is, that the two teams have adopted such a radically different approach to building their teams. The Battleborn have adopted the strategy of trying to collect in their team whatever high end talent they can get their hands on, while the Citadelles have taken a more focused approach of acquiring players who fit a specific team identity: one grounded, largely, in fostering an environment that is both friendly, yet conducive to forward advancement and thereby success. Both approaches have their merits, but as a member of the Citadelles, it's obvious which one I'm partial to. Even despite that, there's always a little extra riding on games with the Battleborn just due to that aforementioned expansion connection. The Citadelles are forced by circumstances alone to always compare their relative progress in the league against Nevada. It just so happens that this year, that comparison has become rather favourable.
To date, there hasn't been much bad blood between the teams. Both franchises are still young, and while we can select rivalries, it will be quite some time before we can ever really ascertain the kind of heated, lengthy contests that other SMJHL and SHL teams can boast. But unless the two teams go the way of, for example, the Buffalo Stampede and the San Francisco Pride (once-Admirals), it's doubtful that expansion team connection will ever truly fade.
For the Vancouver Whalers, our biggest rival is probably the Kelwona Knights. Both teams have seen some historic success, though some more recent than others, but the games are always entertaining and difficult tests. As both teams play in the same division, there's lots of opportunity for important games and have a big impact on post-season play, and really that's the most important fact of a rivalry: meaningful games. While Vancouver has had important contests against out-of-division rivals like, Newfoundland, Carolina, and others, I do not consider those true rivals because they do not directly compete for seeding and are not played as much. So far, Kelowna leads the Whalers in the season series 2-1, but the last two games of the season for the Whalers are against the Knights, and what is a truer evidence of a great rivalry than ending your season in potentially seed-defining games? Plus, there's a competition for who has the better color of green, which I think is Vancouver in a landslide.
One of the knight's biggest rivalry are the Vancouver Whalers. The main reason is because Both are Kelowna Knights and Vancouver Whalers are relatively close to one another. The greatest rivalry are always built over time from the oldest communities. The second reason is because the little pest @Pythonic is one of them. From being a 15years old troll(you must be 16 by now??) to being a PPG winger on the whalers this season, things are bound to make certain people angry. Especially when you shove Bradford in our faces every 16 hours(and rightly so). It was hard having a good rivalry last year after you went for a record year and we went the complete opposite direction(congratz on the cup). I hope our great captain @trashae can speak with his fists in our next game without being stopped by the linesman). Here is to a great rivalry that has yet to show us everything it's capable of. Cheers
Everybody in the Great Lakes division lately can be considered our rivals. Being in the most stacked division doesn't help our case and in any other division, we would be fighting for a playoff spot. We have a motto in the LR "Drain the Great Lakes" and that is embodying the situation we are in with the other teams. Before this season, I don't think I could have even named a rival because we were so bad, but now we are actually competing and can make some rivalries with teams. Give us a few more seasons and then everyone in our league will be our rival because we will be so good and everybody will want us to lose. We are not even world-beaters yet but imagine how we will act when we are actually a cup contender haha, in all seriousness FUCK THE GREAT LAKES & DRAIN THE SWAMP!
The choice for San Francisco is clear... There can only be one team with a big cat as their logo in California, and that team is obviously the Pride, not those pesky imposters down in Los Angeles. Some may argue that the Panthers is the older team and therefore are the rightful owners of the big cat team identity, but they'd be wrong. Why, I hear you ask? Well, it's pretty simple really. Because I said so.
In all seriousness it's a pretty perfect rivalry, although it's been a while since both teams have been good enough at the same time for it to be relevant. Both teams being in California is a good start, making it close enough for fans to travel to game. Both teams follow the same theme in the whole big cat thing, which makes for good rivalry posters etc. And both teams being in the same division is also a great addition. I think over the next couple of seasons it might pick up and become one of the best rivalries in the league.
in the 12 seasons that i have been on the team the Manhattan Rage have squared off with many teams that they could consider rivals. BAP, NEW, and TBB are all teams worth mentioning since they are in our division and have all had their moments to make the Rage struggle... however, there is one specific team that comes to mind when i think of a rival. that team would be the Chicago Syndicate. ever since CHI stepped into the league they have given us trouble in one way or another. i think that we were sort of overly confident in their beginnings and they quickly showed us why that was a bad idea. they are a great team and its been a pleasure to watch them grow season after season. now they are an even bigger test for us since thy shoud be right around their prime at this point, the Rage are an aging team and being able to keep up with a team like Chicago gives us the confidence we need to push forward.
I think that Baltimore's main rival at the moment is the Tampa Bay Barracuda. This is not a rivalry built on locker room spats or even heated close playoff series. This is a rivalry built on rebuilding. Both teams are amidst a complete rebuild with tons of young talent coming up and still in the pipeline. This is a rivalry that is in its infantile stage. Both clearly out of the playoffs, but still locked in a heated battle at the bottom of the league this season. They have both had very similar results and split the season series. While there is not a massive amount of attention for this rosters or games at the moment, I believe that both of these teams are well on their ways to being dominant forces of the future that will lead to playoff clashes and super important games in the near future. Keep and eye on both of these rosters and see a rivalry be born before your eyes.
I think it’s fairly unanimous in the Quebec City Citadelles locker room that our rivals are the Nevada Battleborn. It seems a bit weird to think that an eastern team has for rival a western team due to low amount of game they had in the previous season, but with 66 games a season, they now face off the same number of games as any other team in the league. The reason why Quebec City think of the Nevada Battleborn as their rival is simply due to the fact that they were created at the same time. If it wasn’t of that, I probably would think just as much as any other team in the junior. Being created at the same time instantly create a rivalry on which team can do the best as fast as possible Every team want to be known as the ‘best team’ and I think it will forever be a competition with Nevada about this.