Do you consider Carolina a hated rival?

[KovalchukFistPump]

I def hate them more than I do the Isles, Caps, or Penguins.

 

[devilsblood]

In light of a spirited home and home series I figured let's revisit this topic.

I dislike them a lot more today then I did at this time yesterday.

 

[njdevil26]

I think it's up there.

Traditionally it would be the Rangers, Flyers, and so on but it's hard when NJD/NYR/PHI haven't been good at the same time since 2012.


Right now I would maybe say it's 1. NYR always 2. Now CAR then whoever.

 

[devilsblood]

I definitely hate them, but I'm not sure it's a rivalry when it's been so one-sided.

It's like Rutgers trying to make Penn State a rival in football. Rutgers fans hate Penn State, but it's not a rivalry when one team has historically owned the other.

Big difference in this analogy is PSU is historically(and presently) on a different level. Penn State is a football blue blood Rutgers is a nobody(and I saw this as a Rutgers alum/fan).

Where as Devils had a significant run as one of the top teams in the league.

As a franchise Canes aren't in the position to be looking down their noses at us.

I think it's up there.

Traditionally it would be the Rangers, Flyers, and so on but it's hard when NJD/NYR/PHI haven't been good at the same time since 2012.


Right now I would maybe say it's 1. NYR always 2. Now CAR then whoever.

For me it was always Rag's by a mile. Then Philly, and that's kind of it.

But Philly has faded big. But has Carolina cemented that #2 spot? Seems a little premature for that. I legit didn't consider those guys a rival until last night.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Not really. They are pretty irrelevant. They are more annoying than anything.

I think they are second to last in the metro hatred list for me. The only team I dislike less than them in the metro is philly.

 

[MasterofGrond]

I hate them.

But not as a rival. I hate Carolina because they stole the Whale.

 

[njdevils1982]

I hate them.

But not as a rival. I hate Carolina because they stole the Whale.

@sabremike

 

[Forge]

I don't really dislike any single team more than I do the others. If the devils aren't playing them, I don't really think about them unless a topic of conversation directs me that way

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

f*** all Staals, Jordan can eat shit.
Aho is a bitchy punk who is the most meh first line player around.
But Svech will be a grand goal scorer one day, one day I swear. Pffft, keep waiting.
Arguably the ugliest unis in the league.
Are they rivals? They‘re the gunky residue left behind when you try to take a sticker off of something and the more you rub it, the more it gets gross and annoying.
But I don’t think about them at all.

Checks out.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Top tier rival is Rangers…hate them no matter if they’re good or not. Then comes Philly but I kind of forget about them when they suck, unless/until we play them and they pull some goon shit.

Second tier for me are teams like Carolina and Washington that always seem to have our number and are annoying as f***.

I don’t give about the islanders, they are irrelevant to me. And I don’t have a hatred of the penguins because they’re like the anti-Carolina, we always seem to have the upper hand on them.

Columbus is annoying as hell too because it seems we often find ways to lose to them no matter how bad they are, but hard to work up hatred for such an inept franchise.

I have a low key hate for Tampa when we play them because they are low key dirty and it always feels like they take our lunch money.

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

Checks out.

Tell us how you really feel lol

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Tell us how you really feel lol

Bloated.

 

[Louskoolaid89]

Bloated.

Didn’t get a Squatty Pottie for Christmas I see.

 

[forceten]

Rangers and Flyers will always be our main rivals. It's geography and history. We had to literally pay both franchises every year just to exist until recently. Because Philadelphia and New York City border New Jersey we have tons of fans in the NJ area (note that New York is the nation's largest CSA and Philadelphia is what, 8th? 29.8M people combined) who have family that grew up fans and became fans of the enemy because of that.

Carolina and we have played some interesting series. We played them and lost in their SCF runs in 2002 and 2006. We had that bizarre win-turned-into-loss in 2009. They've beaten us consistently on their home ice - I can attest to it. But we weren't really rivals when they were in Hartford and they aren't really rivals now - more challengers for the top spot in the division which is different.

Carolina's rival is Washington. If Atlanta came back and became good, or the NHL got smart and put a team in Charlotte (and the MLS put a team in Raleigh) that would be sick. But NJ? We're no more rivals than NYR or NYI or PIT are. There are a lot of people from NJ, Penn, and NY here. If anything the folks down here that are from here (about half the population) have this weird obsession with wanting to be better than the people who come here and make this area successful.

 

[Guttersniped]

Top tier rival is Rangers…hate them no matter if they’re good or not. Then comes Philly but I kind of forget about them when they suck, unless/until we play them and they pull some goon shit.

Second tier for me are teams like Carolina and Washington that always seem to have our number and are annoying as f***.

I don’t give about the islanders, they are irrelevant to me. And I don’t have a hatred of the penguins because they’re like the anti-Carolina, we always seem to have the upper hand on them.

Columbus is annoying as hell too because it seems we often find ways to lose to them no matter how bad they are, but hard to work up hatred for such an inept franchise.

I have a low key hate for Tampa when we play them because they are low key dirty and it always feels like they take our lunch money.

This Penguins comment is an excuse to mention one of my favorite things ever.

Reminder: When this article came out we were coming off barely making the playoffs after not making them 5 years in a row.

The Pens were riding multiple +100 seasons with two recent Cup wins.

Alas, we sucked too much to ever face him in the playoffs and take advantage of this.

Did two Penguins players vote for us lol?

NHL.com players poll: Toughest rink to play in | NHL.com

Nashville, Winnipeg, Pittsburgh cited as most difficult venues for visiting teams

www.nhl.com

 

[Guttersniped]

Rangers and Flyers will always be our main rivals. It's geography and history. We had to literally pay both franchises every year just to exist until recently. Because Philadelphia and New York City border New Jersey we have tons of fans in the NJ area (note that New York is the nation's largest CSA and Philadelphia is what, 8th? 29.8M people combined) who have family that grew up fans and became fans of the enemy because of that.

Carolina and we have played some interesting series. We played them and lost in their SCF runs in 2002 and 2006. We had that bizarre win-turned-into-loss in 2009. They've beaten us consistently on their home ice - I can attest to it. But we weren't really rivals when they were in Hartford and they aren't really rivals now - more challengers for the top spot in the division which is different.

Carolina's rival is Washington. If Atlanta came back and became good, or the NHL got smart and put a team in Charlotte (and the MLS put a team in Raleigh) that would be sick. But NJ? We're no more rivals than NYR or NYI or PIT are. There are a lot of people from NJ, Penn, and NY here. If anything the folks down here that are from here (about half the population) have this weird obsession with wanting to be better than the people who come here and make this area successful.

All my real rivals played the Atlantic Division. Nothing says rivalry like playing a team 8 times a year in the regular season. 3-4 games is a dip in the pool.

Carolina probably cling to Washington as their real rival because the other Southeast Division’s teams are in the Atlantic (TBL, FLA) or gone (Atlanta).

 

[forceten]

Raleigh also pumps in crowd noise over the PA... it's annoying.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Didn’t get a Squatty Pottie for Christmas I see.

Nah, I have one. Need a double decker…like where most Canes fans live.

 

[NJDevilsFan21]

I don't like Carolina but I also don't hate them, like I did the mid-late 2000s squads. A playoff series or two against the modern evenly matched teams will probably change that. The first one didn't count because I was just too happy and proud to even be experiencing hockey in May. But now there are some expectations...

 

[Comparison Ford]

they’re #2 after NYR for me not only because they seem to have our number in playoffs, but they also can’t figure out a way to beat the rangers in playoffs.

 

[Bleedred]

they’re #2 after NYR for me not only because they seem to have our number in playoffs, but they also can’t figure out a way to beat the rangers in playoffs.

Yeah, I'm definitely more pissed at how they've taken the Capitals place as the Rangers favorite blow up doll in recent years. I hate them I think more for that than I do for anything with us.

 

[ninetyeight]

I love to hate the rags. If I could only have two hockey clubs it would be Devs and rags. Canes however are just a shit franchise I can't wait to see moved somewhere, preferably back to Hartford. Stupid name, dumb logo, terrible jerseys (you think the Jersey jersey is bad, how about the "canes" jersey, it looks like a 7 year old designed it), extremely unknowledgeable fanbase (they've had a team for over 20 years and won a cup and seems like they are still clueless about the sport), their "hurricane warning flag" is actually a tropical storm warning, they seem to have a horseshoe up in their ass, the refs are biased for them and all their goals seem like some weird lucky bounce in or into a scoring chance. I kinda even hate their finnish players too. I do appreciate Rod, Slavin and some others, but if I could relocate or disband one franchise, this would be it.

 

[Louskoolaid89]

I love to hate the rags. If I could only have two hockey clubs it would be Devs and rags. Canes however are just a shit franchise I can't wait to see moved somewhere, preferably back to Hartford. Stupid name, dumb logo, terrible jerseys (you think the Jersey jersey is bad, how about the "canes" jersey, it looks like a 7 year old designed it), extremely unknowledgeable fanbase (they've had a team for over 20 years and won a cup and seems like they are still clueless about the sport), their "hurricane warning flag" is actually a tropical storm warning, they seem to have a horseshoe up in their ass, the refs are biased for them and all their goals seem like some weird lucky bounce in or into a scoring chance. I kinda even hate their finnish players too. I do appreciate Rod, Slavin and some others, but if I could relocate or disband one franchise, this would be it.

If you've ever been to a game down there. They are some of the friendliest and most accommodating fans. They fill that place every night and it's pretty loud and supportive. Just a house of horrors for us. Everyone loves nostalgia and the Whalers including me but, they didn't support that team all that well until it was too late. It's a AHL market at best and the Wolf Pack are mid pack at best in AHL attendance

 

[TheBeerNerd]

If you've ever been to a game down there. They are some of the friendliest and most accommodating fans. They fill that place every night and it's pretty loud and supportive. Just a house of horrors for us. Everyone loves nostalgia and the Whalers including me but, they didn't support that team all that well until it was too late. It's a AHL market at best and the Wolf Pack are mid pack at best in AHL attendance

I do gotta hand it to them, the Lenovo Center was loud and boisterous during that last game.

 

[Oneiro]

It's one thing to hate them but they're a well run team with great fans who show up. We're lucky NYR, NYI and PHI are probably never going to be that competent.