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*Jayba1t* · 07-24-2022, 10:43 PM

Which team is your team's biggest rival in the league and why? This could be due to recent history, old history, medium history, personal beef, branding antagonism, passing on you in the draft, etc. - whatever the reason, which team in the league would you consider to be the biggest rival of your team?

Written option: 150 words on the above

Graphic option: Make a Rivalry Week promo graphic highlighting the two teams squaring off

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3 TPE for doing the thing. (Just one of the things, not both.)

Only S66 SMJHL Rookies (S67 SHL Draftees) are eligible for this PT.

Link PBE, WSBL, ISFL or SSL submissions here to get credit for affiliate claims.

Do not claim this TPE until a post is made in the claim thread.

Deadline: Sunday, July 31st @ 11:59pm PST

TheHammer43 · 07-24-2022, 11:12 PM

"Who is our rival?" That should be one of the very first questions you ask when you join a team. Rivalries are a very critical thing in every sport, it's fun for the fans and the players. Rivalries can way back in the history of the game, or they can spring out of nowhere for both a whole team or just a player. Personally, I wouldn't call the three teams who didn't draft me "rivals" but I definitely want to show them up for not picking me and that's just a personal preference. When I got into Kelowna it didn't take long for them to explain the Knights vs Whalers rivalry, I asked why and it made me feel stupid because they're both in British Colombia, only a four-hour drive between the two cities, but that doesn't stop the bad blood. Now that I know about this I'm always rooting against Vancouver, sink that ship and hunt those whales.

jumpSeat · 07-25-2022, 12:41 AM

Rivalry is a fascinating word. It's one of those rare concepts that not only embodies certain ideas and linguistic qualities, but it's also capable of transcending mere semantics to take on a life of its own. None of us can ever agree exactly on what any given rivalry means because the meaning is different for each person, and the goal posts are constantly shifting.

So in many cases, rivalry ends up being defined by some personal subjective experience, like being passed over in the draft. Speaking of which, every team passed me over in the draft (at least once and several more so), so it would seem rather petty if I got my nose out of joint over that... Still, just for the sake of this task, there was one team, whom I told that I loved Heart

their city, yet they didn't have the time of day for me.

Which is all fine and dandy, as I'm used to being the underdog and having to fight my way to the top. So nothing new there... Who is that one team? Not gonna say, but the graphic below might provide a slight hint:

[Image: I_Love_Kelowna-1.png]

Quote:215 Words

*Aneeqs* · 07-25-2022, 06:30 AM

PBE affiliate

BarnabasCollins · 07-25-2022, 11:13 AM

Well having not been in the SMJHL for a great many years and there being so many new teams it's hard to say who the biggest rival of the Armada is for me. I would probably go with the Carolina Kraken. The reason for this primarily being they moved the iconic Montreal franchise to a southern redneck area where they don't really know shit about hockey. I mean seriously how do you move on the the original smjhl franchises to a southern American state. And the Kraken on the east coast? Makes no sense to me so that team should get their asses kicked on a regular basis just for the sheer audacity of moving that storied franchise. Other than that I guess maybe Maine if you wanted to do the whole East coast West coast thing seeing as how both franchises are at the very top of those coasts perhaps such a geographical rivalry might make a bit of sense. But not knowing the last few seasons history in the J it's a difficult task for a rookie.

Legend · 07-25-2022, 11:45 AM

The Regular Season crowd for S66 is a three-team race at the moment, but we’re going to be looking at only two of them for the rivalry portion of this assignment.

Yukon, being a fairly fresh team (but not franchise) doesn’t have a lot of natural rivalries outside a geographical battle with Anchorage which may or may not count depending on who you ask. But with Vancouver only two points up on the Malamutes and having played one more game, this is shaping up to be a fierce battle this season.

The two teams have only played one so far this season, with Vancouver coming out on top in a close 2-1 OT win, but it shows exactly what we’re hoping to see for the rest of the year and the three remaining games left between these two teams.
Vancouver is more offensive and has the best offense in the league, meanwhile Yukon has the second-best defensive record in the league which is exactly what you want to see. Best on offense vs best on defense. Both of these teams have yet to drop a game on the road, showing the mentality and battling nature of both of these franchises.

Aleksandr Iskandrov @dmuda11, Benjamin Surkhi-Ze’ev @HoltzFan10 and Edge Rocks @Edgerocks1 are leading the way for the Whalers, with all three of them within the top 4 scoring leaders currently. Benson Fiorentini @adamantium isn’t far behind as well.

As for Yukon, the scoring has been spread out and a little less. However, Oles Kobliska @The__Y-man__100, Dimitris Chrysanthos @CybershadeEDM, Lucas Percy @ItsSwitchh, and Billy Blazes @bibleman19 are having very strong seasons. Luckily for the Malamutes the real battle is in the standings, and I’m sure they would sacrifice personal points for team points.

Who will come out on top this season, and how will the next three games go down? Will it be done to the wire or will one of the teams pull far out ahead? It’s anyone’s guess, but it’s going to make for great hockey.

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CrazyMojito · 07-25-2022, 01:18 PM

I could list a few teams as the Citadelles rivals. Nevada was the other team that joined by Expansion the same time Quebec did, everyone wants to beat Newfoundland and they've bounced QCC from the playoffs a couple times. I could argue that Detroit is a big rival having traded playoff series wins with them the past couple seasons. None of these teams were the answer I got when I posed the question to the locker room, the consensus was the Anchorage Armada.

Looking at the past several seasons this seems to be more of a dormant rivalry as these two teams haven't faced each other since a round three sweep by the Armada in S60. That sweep capped off 4 straight seasons that saw a playoff match up between Quebec City and Anchorage. Starting in S57 just as Quebec City was asserting itself as a contending team in the league, the boat team beat them in the third round and went on to win the 4 Star cup. The following season the teams would meet again, but this time in the finals where the Armada were going for the repeat. QCC won the series though 4 games to 1 winning their first every cup. In S59 the two teams would square off again in the 3rd round (playoff seeding making no sense to me) where Anchorage would prevail as victors only to go and lose the cup again.

It'll be interesting to see what happens during my 4 seasons with the Citadelles but hopefully that rivalry can be reignited and QCC can even out the series victories!

erikvm · 07-25-2022, 03:44 PM

As a rookie, and a relatively young team with not a lot of history, I think our biggest rival is yet to be claimed, but for this year, I think there’s a clear answer. Kelowna and Great Falls were in eerily similar positions last year and this year, and with a weaker division, both of them have a real shot at playoff berth this season. Plus Jacques Hammer going 4th overall and Bobby McGinnis going 5th overall, two new players to the scene, there will be conversations about who is better, and I think both of them have games against each other circled on the calendar. Plus as I just mentioned, Kelowna passed on me at 4 to take Jacques Hammer, so I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder against them compared to other teams, even the teams that picked ahead of Kelowna, because if they went for new blood and didn’t think I was the best choice, well I got to prove them wrong.

Arctic · 07-25-2022, 03:48 PM

ISFL Affiliate

*Otrebor13* · 07-25-2022, 04:09 PM

If I had to choose a rival, I think I’d probably say Anchorage. Why would I say Anchorage? Well, there are a couple of reasons. Firstly, as a Carolina Kraken, and mythical sea creature, the sight of a boat on our waters is a big no go, and that boat must be crushed and dismantled. We will not stand to have any of this pollution and intrusion on our waters!

Secondly, and perhaps less important than the first point, is the fact that they drafted my brother. Now, me and my brother aren’t ones to really compete with one another, but when I looked at the other teams in the SMJHL, I couldn’t think of other factors that would allow me to come up with a compelling enough argument to consider someone a rival. We were drafted a little less than a round apart, so I want to make sure I let him know that I was drafted ahead of him for a reason (even if he’s outperforming me right now).

negs77 · 07-25-2022, 06:59 PM

ISFL affiliate (negs)

Justice · 07-25-2022, 09:17 PM

As his father was the first co-gm in franchise history for the Newfoundland Berserkers, Rush felt particularly drawn to the organization more so than others even after he didn't land on their roster through the waiver wire. There hasn't been any big reasons for Carolina or Newfoundland to have any sort of rivalry in years, but it will be interesting to see if any developments take place in the near future, perhaps in a tight playoff series. Especially with both franchises going through a bit of a rebuild with young players on the rise, we will inevitably see both teams face each other late in the playoff game in seasons to come, and maybe Rush Justice has what it takes to be one of the key, star pieces in bringing the Carolina Kraken to the success that will surely be due to come their way within the next handful of seasons to come.

156 words

Massive Coiler · 07-26-2022, 12:58 AM

Historically Vancouver and Kelowna were rivals, but I'm going with a rivalry in the making. Vancouver and Regina. The two teams have been thrown into the same division, and both have similar trajectories. Both teams are coming around from rebuilds and will likely have the same contending window coming up. They are poised to be 1 and 2 in their division this season, meaning the contending may be starting earlier than anticipated. I think this "rivalry" won't be one that lasts for more than 3 or 4 seasons, but this could be a really good pair of teams for that duration. Antonio Flusso and Rod Cocker are two rookie defenders who are very close with one another who find themselves on opposite ends of this, which makes for a somewhat interesting storyline. Rod Cocker, passed on by many teams, including Vancouver has a bone to pick with just about everyone. Could he bring his "A" game against the team that denied him to be on a defensive pair with his friend? Personal stuff aside, the team windows lining up and the divisional placement makes for an ideal current rivalry.

*CptSquall* · 07-26-2022, 09:29 AM

With Rivalries you tend to look at geographic location to find something worth drumming up. For Anchorage this would probably give them the Yukon.

Some tend to focus rigidly on Divisional opponents. Yukon and Colorado fit this mold for the boat gang.

Of course history plays it’s part, and back in the bad old days of STHS Anchorage was also Prince George. There was a lot of bleed over with the old rivalry with Detroit from this era and I am certain some animosity still exists.

Recent playoff matches can make less conventional rivalries flourish, like with the early S60s and late S50s between Quebec and Anchorage. Often those can feel as heated as old rivalries without having much outside of recent matchups to add to the flair.

For me personally, I’ve always relished the opportunity to defeat Detroit. When my first player played for Kelowna from S38 -> S40, the Falcons always seemed like tough opponents and sweeping them in the S40 4 Star Cup Finals has, so far, been the high point of my time on the site.

My last player here spent the early S50s playing for St. Louis, whose built in IRL animosity to Detroit and vice versa, are well known. This time, I plan for the pendulum of fortune to swing in my favour.

PremierBromanov · 07-26-2022, 10:13 AM

The Vancouver Whaler's biggest rival is and always has been ourselves. We don't lose games because other teams are better, we lose games because we don't play our best. When we play our best game, we are unstoppable. And truly, to play our best game means a lot more than simply showing up and trying really hard. There are many things that influence each and every player, be it life events, things we eat, or even the words we say to each other. It is for this reason that the coaching staff are adamant about cohesion. Not merely as teammates, but as family. We are professionals, sure, but great steps have been made to intersect our lives. On the road, it is mandatory that we share meals as a large group. At home, we are broken up into groups of 5 and a rotating member of the group hosts a meal once a week. Spouses and children are encouraged to join. Again, it is important that every aspect of our lives intersects. A team with a life-bond will play for eachother harder than a professional could. We are not actors and so we cannot pretend. It must be authentic.

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