Lilja does not specifically have a rival team now that he does not longer play for Calgary, which would make Edmonton his rival team by default and their history of heating matches labeled "Battle of Alberta" - Lilja does have a personal rival instead. One of his former teammates is also playing in the league, Anton Mihailov. This guy used to play along side with Lilja on the first line at Nokian Pyry and they would often have a race about which one would score the most goals, assists, points, every stat imaginable. Even hits, even though they were kids at the time. Lilja had a few times in which he came out on top, but Mihailov kept drawing the bigger straws over and over again. As Mihailov got drafted into Buffalo 4 picks after Lilja at 18th overall, this would mean that their rivalry would keep on going in the SHL. Getting traded into Atlanta was probably the best move in Mihailov's early career as he would collect nearly a point per game playing there, before getting traded into Seattle. Lilja on the other hand started to shine after his move from Calgary to Los Angeles and Seattle, where he ended up playing with his childhood teammate in the big leagues.