Do you consider Carolina a hated rival?

[Louskoolaid89]

I gotta say yes. Their a team that stands in our way. Two elite teams with playoff history in the same division which means likely more playoff showdowns. Erik Haula hates the Canes!

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[RyGuy]

Maybe for a little bit after the 2009 playoff implosion. Theyve never really been a team I consider a "rival", but that will probably change soon as both teams will be fighting tooth and nail for top of the Metro for years to come.

 

[AfroThunder396]

I find them more obnoxious than anything, every time we're having a good time they're the ones to swoop in and ruin it.

They are pretty clearly a 2nd tier rival IMO. I've never hated them personally like they way I hate NYR and sometimes PHI.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

My first instinct was yes but when i think about it, i can’t call them a hated a rival. Even as a Connecticutian, the Whalers history doesn’t mean much to me since nobody liked the Whalers when i was growing up and they were never good.

I would definitely say “rival,” but they’ve spent most of their existence in a different division and they have quite a few players i really like. Plus the Tulsky story is interesting and i don’t think they have a particularly annoying fanbase. It’ll be a long time before they’re on a similar level in my head with the Flyers, Penguins, and Islanders. Obviously the Rangers are a tier of their own.

 

[forceten]

We had some doozies of playoff series against them. The late 3rd period collapse in game 7 sticks out... we were ahead, then tied, then behind all in the last what, 3 minutes? They tend to have our number in the playoffs though.

Down here there used to be all Devils jerseys when NJ came to town (and same for NYR and NYI games), but that's changed quite a bit. Yes, their fans can be boorish and annoying but they're learning and passionate and that can only be celebrated.

So, no, not a major rivaly but one is building and that's good.

 

[Darkauron]

f*** carolina. Mostly because they are annoying as f*** and obnoxious

 

[AfroThunder396]

We had some doozies of playoff series against them. The late 3rd period collapse in game 7 sticks out... we were ahead, then tied, then behind all in the last what, 3 minutes? They tend to have our number in the playoffs though.

Down here there used to be all Devils jerseys when NJ came to town (and same for NYR and NYI games), but that's changed quite a bit. Yes, their fans can be boorish and annoying but they're learning and passionate and that can only be celebrated.

So, no, not a major rivaly but one is building and that's good.

 

[Triumph]

I think I have to at this point, yeah. It's been 20 years since the Devils lost a playoff series to the Flyers and 15 since they lost one to the Rangers. In that span they've lost 3 times to Carolina, plus another additional time.

Plus while I might be wrong about this, it feels like the Hurricanes and Devils will be battling it out for Metropolitan supremacy for the next 5 years.

 

[JrFischer54]

to me rivals are teams who have fans invade the home stadium.

 

[Devils731]

It’s been hard to consider anyone rival since the Devils have been so bad for so long.

I do think the Devils and Carolina will keep running into each other so this current era matchup will grow into a rivalry.

 

[Louskoolaid89]

to me rivals are teams who have fans invade the home stadium.

So when Boston is at Anaheim it's a rivalry game?

 

[DevilsHughes86]

I wouldn't say a rival but they're definitely a team I dislike and find the fans annoying as hell. It can change real soon though if we end up seeing each other again in the playoffs which I think is a very high possibility in the near future..

 

[Saugus]

My first instinct was yes but when i think about it, i can’t call them a hated a rival. Even as a Connecticutian, the Whalers history doesn’t mean much to me since nobody liked the Whalers when i was growing up and they were never good.

I would definitely say “rival,” but they’ve spent most of their existence in a different division and they have quite a few players i really like. Plus the Tulsky story is interesting and i don’t think they have a particularly annoying fanbase. It’ll be a long time before they’re on a similar level in my head with the Flyers, Penguins, and Islanders. Obviously the Rangers are a tier of their own.

Yes, they were trash, but they were ours. It took me a long time to get over the Whalers leaving.

Add in the 2009 collapse and this past season, and they're definitely in the top 3 most disliked teams for me.

 

[The Grinder]

The rivalry was renewed last year in the chase for division champs and then them neutering us in the playoffs. I really don’t like them.

Rags
Canes
Philly
Isles
Pens

Is how I see our rival list. If Philly becomes good again they jump to 2.

 

[Louskoolaid89]

The rivalry was renewed last year in the chase for division champs and then them neutering us in the playoffs. I really don’t like them.

Rags
Canes
Philly
Isles
Pens

Is how I see our rival list. If Philly becomes good again they jump to 2.

Yeah Carolina games I have circled. It's not about geography or fans. Just about competition. Fans aren't the level of assholes like they are up here. Canes fans are much kinder.

 

[HBK27]

I used to hate them given the playoff loses and term "Caniacs" (shudder)...but now I have family in the Carolinas that are big fans, so they've grown on me and the hatred has mostly gone away. Would love to get down there for a game one day.

 

[JimEIV]

No.

I still see the world as the Prince of Wales Conference and my team is in the Patrick Division....The Whalers are from the Adams Division. So they are of no concern to me.

 

[Nubmer6]

I've said this before, but as far as I know, we don't really consider them rivals, while they consider us one of their biggest rivalries (or at least they used to). It creates a bit of a mismatch on the emotional/intensity level.

 

[Oneiro]

They’re a rival but, it’s kind of like the Spurs when they were winning NBA championships. Like, who cares…

I have a slight bit of skepticism about how long they’ll be good in the Aho/Slavin era. I think it’s a bit of ships passing in the night as far as the kids they’ve drafted and those guys, like Ottawa in the early 10s. But they’ve done well enough that they’re almost certain to get some Bratt-esque surprises in the system.

 

[Eggtimer]

I have a hate for them but not as much as I do for some other teams. Rangers and Pens are #1 and 2 . Canes are up there though . Just not sure exact number. The past playoff loses is what does it for me.

Having a hated rivalry is good though. It will feel that much better when we beat them in the playoffs.

 

[Emperoreddy]

More annoying then hated. With the way the playoff format works that most likely will change fast as we play each other every year for the next decade.

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

they're a rival for sure. I come to only hate the team during the playoffs. During the regular season they are more/less another team.

Rangers/Flyers.... i hate them every single game. I root for abscesseed teeth during the preseason for those fools.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Now this guy, he's a rival.

f***ing Sutter.

 

[Guadana]

I think I have to at this point, yeah. It's been 20 years since the Devils lost a playoff series to the Flyers and 15 since they lost one to the Rangers. In that span they've lost 3 times to Carolina, plus another additional time.

Plus while I might be wrong about this, it feels like the Hurricanes and Devils will be battling it out for Metropolitan supremacy for the next 5 years.

May be even more. There are only CBJ with the roster and prospect pool who have potential to compete for top of the division. Flyers have one extra prospect and one very good prospect, a couple of good prospects, but for now thats all and we cant make any real adequate conclusion how they will be looking after five years.

 

[Bleedred]

I'm so glad the inferior Sutter brother (and by inferior, I mean out of all his brothers that coached, not just the most successful one in Darryl) f***ed off to Calgary and never got another head coaching gig after that.

I'm half surprised he never got another head coaching gig, especially since BAD coaches are hired every offseason to head coach in the NHL, but I wonder if him bailing on the Devils to go work for Calgary because he ''Wanted to go home'' rubbed people the wrong way. It pissed JVB off, who was vocal about it, but it made me happy. He was worthless. If we didn't have the worst head coach in the history of hockey at one point (who he gave his vote of confidence to on the way out to Calgary) in our franchise history, Sutter may have been the worst head coach we ever had.

That said, we did hire one pretty big name (albeit one who had a big name because of an international tournament with college aged kids) that we had for a year before Lou said ''Yeah, that's enough of that'' after one year (a playoff year, no less) to hire Lemaire. He was pretty awful and I think that was the last time he worked in the NHL, other than an interim stint with the Pens about 7 or 8 years later.

I remember when there were rumors that Brent would be the successor to Lou as GM. Remember, his brother Darryl had transitioned to being a GM and was the Calgary GM at the time, although that didn't last very long. It's funny, the rumor of Brent leaving at the end of the 08-09 season came out around February or so of that year and when asked, he said something like ''I evaluate my situation every season at the end of the year and that's what I'll be doing again at the end of this year'' which didn't exactly say he wasn't going to do what the rumor suggested he was going to do. If that wasn't a sign right there that the rumors were true.

With what we know now, not sure Brent would have ever become the GM here, unless he was somehow still the head coach here in 2015 and Harris and Blitzer purged Lou and promoted him. With what we know now and 14 years after Sutter left, Lou is almost 81 years old and still an active GM in the NHL. If Lou was able to go out on his own terms would he have retired from being a GM by now? Perhaps, but he surely wasn't okay with doing that as of 2015.