Detroit is a major league city, or it should be. In the world of the SHL/SMJHL, there are not many natural rivals for the current SMJHL Falcons. Naturally, we'd first look to the division. Newfoundland and Regina. These would be natural rivals through the in-season competition. What about geography? Nope, nobody is really close, with St.Louis probably being the nearest rival, still 8 hours by car.

Rivalries in the J can be a bit different. Since players don't have a lot of tenure, the animosity ebbs and flows in short bursts depending on recent results and roster makeup. Based on this, I'm going to choose Anchorage based on recent history. With three decisive wins over Detroit in the first four weeks of the season, they've become a bit of a bogey team for us. With a combined 44 PIM across three meetings, there is no love lost between the two sides. Additionally, on the strength of taking 6 of a possible 6 points out of Detroit to begin the year, Anchorage current sit joint-first place in the standings, with the Falcons wallowing down in thirteenth. Detroit, however, has a strong and large rookie class who will look to turn the tide of this rivalry over the remainder of this season and the following two. Attempting to do so will either prove very fulfilling, using the current leaders as a measuring stick for our own progress - or incredibly disheartening, should their dominance over our squad continue. Anyway eff those dudes.