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*Jayba1t* · 09-25-2022, 11:24 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?

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Deadline: Sunday, October 2nd @ 11:59pm PST

***bluesfan55*** · 09-25-2022, 11:33 PM

Historically, the Anchorage Armada have been rivals with the Vancouver Whalers. This is mainly due to location, location, location. The Armada are in a pretty remote area of the United States, and Vancouver, for the longest time, has been their main geographical rival. It helps that in the S40s and S50s, the teams were two of the best in the SMJHL, routinely fighting it out at the top of the standings. Hell, in S51, they even played for the right to make it into the Four Star Cup Final (spoiler alert - the Armada won in a thrilling series). Now, with Yukon being a thing, you could make a case for them being the closest rival to the Armada, but ask anyone who has played for or supported the Armada, and you'll see that the Malamutes have never registered as a rival. Anchorage will always see Vancouver as their biggest rival, and I doubt that will ever change.

ty to @High Stick King @EvilAllBran and @Ragnar for the sigs

ACapitalChicago · 09-26-2022, 12:26 AM

The closest rivals for the Nevada Battleborn would most likely be the Newfoundland Berserkers. Looking at it from a historical sense, the Newfoundland Berserkers were frequently a team that was a pain the side for the Battleborn, and ended more than one potential run due to their dominance across the League. The Simulation Major Junior Hockey League has seen more than its fair share of dynasties, and the most recent one for the Newfoundland Berserkers has been no exception. But, finally, this past season things had a massive change of pace. The Nevada Battleborn won in a decisive sweep despite multiple close games and moved past the Berserkers for what felt like the first time in forever. Multiple people have admitted they didn't release their breath until after the series was officially over, given how tense it came to be. Thus, I believe firmly that the rivals of the Nevada Battleborn are the Newfoundland Berserkers

S66 Damian Littleton

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MrPrime · 09-26-2022, 12:26 AM

I would say two teams stand out as rivals for the Detroit Falcons. The first is Maine's Timber of the Bergen Division. This is a rival due to the fact they are the two teams closest to one another and such proximity ( Okay, 13 hours by car. ) opens up the way for a rivalry. This season the two teams met thrice so far ( 7-4 Det win on 2033-10-6, 4-3 Mai win on 2033-10-12 and 6-2 Det win on 2033-10-26 ) and there are three games left to see who will be the best of the two teams despite Detroit being better positioned in the standings by comparison.

The other team rival I feel is of the Divisional variety and I'm pointing to the Regina Elks, currently first in the Conference as well as in the Ciarelli Division. Let's just say that with the latest 6-0 beat down the Elks forced upon the Falcons in their one match of the season this is enough for the birds to want and turn the next match into a war and the whole thing into a rivalry that can live on for seasons and seasons.

***KaleSalad*** · 09-26-2022, 12:49 AM

Without a doubt the biggest rivalry if you want to call it that for the Maine Timber is the Newfoundland Berserkers. Ever since the S54 season where they met in the finals and Newfoundland got the edge, Maine has been fighting back every chance they could to get even for this. Despite some regular season success against them it has not translated to playoffs. Newfoundland has knocked Maine out of almost every playoff with the exception of about 4 playoff series since then. Here is hoping that this is the team that is finally able to break what seems to be curse for the Timber. With Maine off to a slow start but looking like they are poised to get better each week with their young talent and Newfoundland looking like they may still be a bottom team here is hoping that we can finally break through them and get this self inflicted curse off our backs. Now I say this is a rivalry but I am sure the Berserkers don’t see it that way because of their continued success but as a former Maine GM and player its how I felt about it.

WC:195

AlexisTexasRanger · 09-26-2022, 01:06 AM

When a child in Regina attends their first game, no matter the opponent, they are sure to hear one chant arise as the game wears on:

F - U - kon! F - U - kon!

That's right. It could be a sunny day in March against literally anyone and the Regina faithful will still be shouting expletives that make it utterly clear what they think of the Malamutes. And it's not anything good.

Dating back to S63, when Anaheim (now Yukon) swept the Elk, native Reginans have had a disdain for anyone associated with that franchise. In S65 the two teams went to the wire but again the Yukon franchise won the series, this time in 7 games, after the refs gifted them powerplay after powerplay.

This year the bitter feelings have been just as high. Yukon and Regina both went into the draft with a spot open in goal, each opting for a British netminder to hang their season on. And the new blood, Alexis Texas and Bandit Heeler, have each brought the same intensity to the old rivalry. Each quite familiar with the other as they progressed through the British system, they've collectively allowed only four goals across two games played between the team (with each recording a shutout) resulting in chippy matches. Should the Malamutes and Elk meet again in the playoffs, it would be more than chippy though... it would be a bloodbath.

Until then, only one thing is certain. Step into the Brandt Center on gameday and listen to the roar of the crowd. Listen carefully and you'll definitely hear:

F - U - kon!

W19eaver · 09-26-2022, 05:10 AM

Well first of all this is from a personal point of view of rivals and not a team thing. Mr. Inappropriate has deemed (see what I did there) every team who passed on him in the draft as his own personal rivals. And as somebody who was drafted in the 3rd round of the simulation major junior hockey league entry draft that means every team is his rivals. But even more of a slap in the face and who he considers his biggest rivals are the 4 teams who took a center before he went. Those teams include, Maine Timber who took Cale Salad at 8th overall, Quebec City Citadels who took Viktor Hargreeves at 13th overall, Anchorage Armada who took Sébastien Regazzoni at 20th overall, Quebec City Citadels AGAIN who took Tony Hawkey at 24th overall and then finally Colorado Raptors who took Adrian O'Rugg at 27th overall. Deemed as memorized all the centers taken before him and by what teams and he plans on playing his ass off making those teams regret passing up on him. Also a special rival team of his goes out the the Nevada Battleborn who despite having connections with deemed's agent, w19eaver, who for a very brief time before his unexpected divorce was gm of the battleborn, didn't even bother to scout him or anything of the sorts, so booo on them.

minaj27 · 09-26-2022, 11:07 AM

Since Alexander is new to the SMJHL scene and never truly followed the league before being drafted into it, he has no sense of any inter team rivalries. Although he couldn't imagine a better team to be drafted by in Quebec City, any team that drafted a defenseman before pick #11 will regret passing on Alexander. His drive will push him to become the biggest steal of the draft as he plans on delivering multiple Four Star Cups to Quebec City for having the confidence to trade up and select him in the first round. Neveda with the #1, Detroit with #2, Kelowna with #3, Great Falls with #5, Anchorage with #6, Yukon with #9, and Vancouver with #10 all selected a defenseman with their first round pick. Each of these teams have been circled on the calendar throughout the year. Look out for stronger games from Alexander as he aims to make these teams regret passing on him. Go QCC!

*Toast* · 09-26-2022, 11:24 AM

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jlutz14 · 09-26-2022, 11:37 AM

As someone who is unfamiliar with SMJHL history, I'm not fully aware of the previous rivalries the Kelowna Knights have engaged in with other teams. Therefore, I'm going to choose our rival based on my own personal opinions on branding and on a general trend in sports. As the saying goes, it is easy to dislike those that are successful, especially those that are performing far better than you. No one likes when a historic winner continues to succeed year in and year out and seemingly never experiences a drop-off in performance. Over the past few seasons, the Nevada Battleborn franchise has been one of the most successful in the SMJHL. Sitting atop the SMJHL in the S66 regular season, the Battleborn also went on to win a Four Star Cup. So far in S67, Nevada also leads in the standings in points percentage. These successes have followed top 5 regular season finishes in seasons 63, 64, and 65 respectively. This, when combined with my personal dislike for their branding, has contributed to their ranking as our rival.

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***Frenchie*** · 09-26-2022, 01:47 PM

When it comes to franchises where tradition is so deeply rooted, foes and forceful adversaries come and go and rivalries come in waves. The Carolina Kraken franchise is one of the founding members of the league, coming in the fold as the Brandon Blazers through to S3 before wearing the Montreal Impact and Montreal Militia names through S4-S27 and S28-S49 respectively. With respect to the heritage of each of these teams, the Carolina Kraken has built a path of its own. In the most recent years eras of rivalivries between the Kraken and other franchises have come and gone, such as with Anaheim in regards to the S50 playoffs, and more recently with Newfoundland and Detroit. Although in most cases rivalries would imply a back and forth between teams trading wins, but everyone in their right mind will say that the Kraken have been the superior team throughout, in line with a Kraken being BY FAR the superior creature.

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*mystick* · 09-26-2022, 05:03 PM

Just joining the league it is tough to know how deep some rivalries are, but the Newfoundland Berserkers seem to have a few. Since joining them after their dominant years, and currently being in the basement of the league, it is tough because you can sense other teams playing a little harder against us to get revenge for prior seasons when we did the same to them. On a more personal note, I was interviewed by a lot of team before the draft. I thought a lot of the talks went quite well. Watching yourself get passed over by all these teams I talked to is never easy to see. That does give me a bit more motivation every time we play against them, giving that bit of extra effort to show them what they missed out on. With more time in the league I am sure I will come to hate some teams more, but at this point I am just happy to be here.
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***NYR73*** · 09-26-2022, 10:38 PM

As someone who is not well educated on the SMJHL history, it's hard to say who the Raptor's rivals are. There are certainly some sour feelings towards the Nevada Battleborn, as they swept the Raptors in the playoffs last year in the third round, after a hugely successful regular season. This season, the rivalries come from within the division. The Raptors will be battling with Vancouver, Great Falls, and Newfoundland for a spot in the playoffs. Based on current standings, they will be be fighting mostly with Great Falls and Vancouver throughout the season. Personally, I have a vendetta for every team that passed me in the first round, I will do everything I can to make them regret it. Two wingers were picked before me in the draft, by the Carolina Kraken and the Newfoundland Berserkers, and I will put in the work necessary to make them regret not picking me.

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downer · 09-26-2022, 11:15 PM

Being a recent expansion team into the SMJHL, there's not really an established rivalry for the Great Falls Grizzlies. Ideally, the Grizzlies are looking to push deep into the playoffs going forward in order to establish some real success, which should help create some key rivalries. This season, that puts the other teams in our Division at the top of the list for potential rivalries, because each and every time we play them those points are the most vital in determining our final standings and our potential playoff seeding. With that said, it's a fairly tight race through this first part of the season, with Vancouver tied in points, and Colorado with just a 3 point lead at the top of the Division. Over the next few weeks of the season, those numbers could really go either way, with changes in the order of the standings almost a guarantee. Within the Pacific conference, Regina is the closest to a rival, as they were an expansion team along with us. So far this season, they have a commanding lead in the standings, but anything can happen, especially in playoff hockey.

scudmuffin19 · 09-27-2022, 11:41 AM

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