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jbay7 · 10-01-2022, 07:04 AM

There are two main components of a rivalry: familiarity of the opponent and relative parity. This generally makes someone from within your division the most obvious choice as a chief rival. Seeing as if it weren't for Deadpool, no one in St. Louis would even know how to pronounce Regina, the main rivals of the Crows is Detroit.

In many ways, Detroit and St. Louis are similar cities. Both are major midwestern cities with something of an inferiority complex. They don't receive the recognition the American public generally reserves for the coastal cities, and even within the midwest they are both overshadowed by Chicago. That, however, is where the similarities end. Take, for example, the best known local foods. Detroit is best known culinarily for Detroit-style pizza, which in itself, is a microcosm of Detroit as a city. It is far less renowned than both New York and Chicago style pizza, yet similarly polarizes people into love-it or hate-it camps like Chicago style does. Only, it's just a watered down version in every way: less well known, less ubiquitous, and really, its more of a like-it or don't-like-it camp. Jon Stewart will never go on a Detroit style pizza rant, and no one will write articles extolling the virtues of Detroit pizza as the best in the world.

St. Louis, on the other hand, has St. Louis style ribs. Unlike Detroit pizza, this is universally acknowledged as best in its class. They have the most flavor of any rib cut, are by far the most presentable, and are considerably cheaper than the vastly over-rated baby back rib.

I could go on about other ways St. Louis is superior to Detroit, such as how the most famous landmark in St. Louis is the totally dope Gateway Arch, while Detroit has, uh.... car factories I guess (yay industrialization!), but it gets kinda mean. The point is, Detroit is St. Louis rival and it will likely remain that way for all time.

***JR95*** · 10-01-2022, 09:24 AM

If I had to pick Robinson's biggest rival, it really wouldn't be a whole team. He hasn't been in the league long and had time to really develop that animosity that comes over time in rivalries. That said there is one player that he would consider a rival for a few reasons and that player is Erik Bergmark. Bergmark played in Robinson's junior league and was selected 12th overall by the colorado raptors, just 2 selections before Robinson. This lit a fire under Robinson to prove to colorado and Bergmark that there may have been a better option available. While that hasn't entirely been the case so far this season with Bergmark having amassed an amazingly impressive 19 points thus far, topping Robinson's meager 9. That said Robinson suffered from a slow start and has since turned on the jets, getting all but 2 of his 9 points in recent games. If this trend continues, it will be interesting to see where both end up at the end of the season.

***Rangerjase*** · 10-01-2022, 10:14 AM

Since trotting in the door to the Detroit Falcons locker room, there has been no shortage of Anti St. Louis Scarecrows propaganda. Reaching out to his old friend Zoltan Topalo, even he couldn’t figure out how long this feud between the two teams has been going on for. Every game against St. Louis is circled on the calendar, and the entire team is always ready to go out and put it all on the line when we line up against them on the ice. In recent history, it was known that one of the Detroit Alumni has made his way into upper echelon of management for St. Louis. This is one of the small thorns in the side that will just never seem to go away. Detroit has won quite a few more cups, especially in the recent years, but its always great to keep the rivalry alive by making sure we stay on top in the playoffs every season.

***liebolda*** · 10-01-2022, 11:46 AM

In recent SMJHL history the largest rivals for the Kelowna Knights have mainly been themselves. Falling into a rebuilding period after their sweet victory in the 59th season of the SMJHL. Since then Kelowna has found little success in recent years with little to show for it. With the exception of a lengthy playoff run in season 63, Kelowna has been unable to make it out of the second round of playoffs, failing time and time again. Culminating in the failure to make playoffs in season 66. Unfortunately the Kelowna Knight's have been getting in their own way time and time again, failing to compete and produce when it matters most. They are expecting a great turnaround in the next few years with budding new class of rookies coming out of the draft and some well made trades. While the rookies have been a great help for the team, their SMJHL veteran backbone will also allow them to excel, providing the needed support and leadership to the team as a whole.

Rublic · 10-01-2022, 02:28 PM

This is a rivalry that formed at the beginning at the SMJHL. The firebirds vs the Knights. While the firebirds have moved on to become the Regina Force then back to Prince George as the Firebirds and then finally even farther north in Anchorage Alaska as the Armada the rivalry is still evident. This happened back where there were only six SMJHL teams... We are now 67 seasons later and that rivalry persists. While the Armada have developed rivalries with other teams over the years this is the stand out. The Armada have been a middle of the pack team this season and only look to improve on their numbers. The knights have not fair as well this season but are showing vast improvement over their dismal record in season 66. The Armada are definitely in a better position at the moment and you can bet every player is fighting tooth and nail to help their team take two points anytime they lace up against each other.

LightningDragon · 10-01-2022, 03:06 PM

Right now, Yukon's biggest rival is likely Newfoundland. Being a team based in the far north of Canada, there aren't many other teams around to cause the spark of a rivalry, so instead it is the playoffs that drive the hate and competition. Last season, the Newfoundland Berserkers beat Yukon in the first round of the SMJHL playoffs in 7 games. While Anchorage and Regina are both closer teams to Yukon and both are better than Newfoundland currently in the standings, the sting from last season still hasn't worn off for us. Newfoundland has to pay, so even if they are last in the standings right now, this team will take pleasure in all the wins we can get out of the games we play with them. In addition, with how cyclical the SMJHL can be, rivalries can often be short lived. We also know that just because we are 2nd in the standing and Newfoundland is last, that won't last forever. Thus, this hate continues well after that playoff loss and Newfoundland's fall.

***eddiesnothere*** · 10-02-2022, 01:54 AM

As a relatively new franchise, the Great Falls Grizzlies haven't had the luxury of extensive sustained playoff success, where most high-intensity rivalries are fostered. While the Grizzlies look to build a formidable team in the near future, they will tangle with their conference kings in the Raptors and Elk, and the powerhouse in the Atlantic that is Quebec City. The hard truth is that it will be the Grizzlies that will have to work to become hated. From their monumental early peak, they need to find a significant winning formula and culture in order to become a team fans will love to despise when they come into the arena. As it stands, they are not a consistent winner and cannot be inherently hate-able by their divisional opponents, as you can rarely hate a doormat for simply doing its job, you have to be the person the doormats hate.

Arkonius · 10-02-2022, 06:53 PM

I would say the biggest rivalry that Lazos Otasrob sees is Anchorage Armada Armada

vs Great Falls Grizzlies

With Lazos and Davos playing on the Grizzlies as unrestricted free agents for a quick playoff stint. Lazos has history being on that team and knows that both locker rooms have a lot to prove. Lazos was just entering the SMJHL and wasn't sure where he would fit. The Grizzlies gave him an opportunity to allow scouts to see what he can do and this in turn allowed him to get drafted by the Armada. Whenever the Armada plays the Grizzlies there is a different atmosphere and feeling for Lazos. They will be playing each other again on December 17th in Great Falls. This one should be one to mark on your calendar! Lazos has a lot to prove and by doing it in front of his old home team's crowd, it will feel all that more satisfying.

Sopath · 10-02-2022, 10:54 PM

Okay my hot take is that Newfoundland’s biggest rivalry is The Maine Timber. I know that NL has crushed Maine at every opportunity for the last several seasons, and frankly going back the start of both franchises. So NL played Maine for virtually every single playoff series for years. This included even meeting in the Four Star cup where NL kicked that ass. But to me the most memorable series was probably back in S57 when NL was trash and Maine was good and NL actually beat them in the playoffs. It basically caused an implosion in the Locker room and there was a mass exodus of prospects that left the SHL that off season or the next season. Then by the time Maine rebuilt NL was the best team the league had ever seen. Winning the cup in 4 out of 5 seasons. Maine is that team we love to bully. For me it’s my favorite rivalry we have for this reason.

LampLighter · 10-02-2022, 11:23 PM

The biggest rivalry that I see for the Newfoundland Berserkers would be the Great Falls Grizzlies. Since I am a new person to SMJHL I do not really know about the history between the teams whether that be recent or past so I am basing this rivalry off of logos and branding. The history of the Berserkers name goes back to medieval times where one type of berserker in history were warriors that drew their power from the bear and were considered to be in a bear cult. These berserkers would go into battle wearing bear skins. With this history for berserkers I would see no better rivalry then with the Great Falls Grizzlies. As a Berserker we want to defeat the grizzlies by any means necessary to be able to harness their power to better prepare ourselves to go into the next battle. So far this season Newfoundland has performed well against Great Falls and hopefully can continue winning against who I feel is our biggest rival.

Atox · 10-03-2022, 12:46 AM

Since I am not well versed in the Detroit Falcons' franchise history I am going to talk about the team most adversarial to the Falcons. This team would be the Regina Elks who hold serve in the Ciarelli Division with a five point lead in the standings. It doesn't exactly help that Regina tattooed Detroit 6-0 in a game this season (albeit the current season series record is 1-1.) Five points with half the season left isn't insurmountable but it's seemed to be a difficult barrier to cross over, even with Detroit moving to 2nd over St. Louis.
Speaking of St. Louis, while I don't know the specifics, a lot of the users on the Detroit Locker Room server say it's the team's biggest rivalry and has history to early SHL. It was succinctly categorized as similar to the rivalry of Calgary/Edmonton in the NHL

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