What is the greatest player rivalry in the history of hockey?
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I went with Crosby vs Ovechkin.
the Howe v Richard and sawchuk v plante we’re before my time.
gretzky and Lemieux - gretzky and Lemieux were for the most part in separate conferences and never faced each other much in the regular season and never in the playoffs.
Roy v hasek - it really wasn’t much rivalry, hasek dominated the regular season and Roy already had 3 cups and 2 conn smythe before hasek became relevant in post season hockey with his 1998/99 run.
the Howe v Richard and sawchuk v plante we’re before my time.
gretzky and Lemieux - gretzky and Lemieux were for the most part in separate conferences and never faced each other much in the regular season and never in the playoffs.
Roy v hasek - it really wasn’t much rivalry, hasek dominated the regular season and Roy already had 3 cups and 2 conn smythe before hasek became relevant in post season hockey with his 1998/99 run.
sr edler
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If I'm not mistaken I think the player rivalry was more Ted Lindsay vs Richard than Howe vs Richard, since Lindsay and Richard matched up against each other continuously at LW vs RW.
I think there was even some story of the two (Lindsay & Richard) bumping into each other at a beach during the off-season and completely ignoring each other/refusing to speak to one another.
Hasek vs Roy also seems a bit fabricated.
I think there was even some story of the two (Lindsay & Richard) bumping into each other at a beach during the off-season and completely ignoring each other/refusing to speak to one another.
Hasek vs Roy also seems a bit fabricated.
JackSlater
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I'd only consider Howe - Richard and Crosby - Ovechkin actual rivalries. Went with the former, could be convinced of the latter because it's close either way.
Arthur Morgan
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Foppberg
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It’s definitely not Ovi/Sid, but we’re too young with not enough footage too know. Hockey was brutal years ago, there’s definitely some vicious hockey rivalry that we just don’t know about between I don’t know.. the 30s to the 70s.
Crosby vs Ovi easily
Gretzky vs Lemieux sounds good in theory but it was never really a thing. Lemieux became great as Gretzky slowed down, and they rarely faced off, never in playoffs or such
Crosby vs Ovi started same year and have traded accolades their whole careers - and faced off in playoffs (on route to 4 cups) and internationally many times
Gretzky vs Lemieux sounds good in theory but it was never really a thing. Lemieux became great as Gretzky slowed down, and they rarely faced off, never in playoffs or such
Crosby vs Ovi started same year and have traded accolades their whole careers - and faced off in playoffs (on route to 4 cups) and internationally many times
Golden_Jet
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Mrb1p
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LightningStorm
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Agree completely. Crosby and Ovechkin entered the league the same season and both scored 100 points. In all 4 combined cup wins they beat each other along the way in the playoffs, including that epic 2009 game where they both had hat tricks. There's the contrasts too, with Crosby being great at controlling play and tilting the ice during his shift, which Ovechkin's shot and hits can instantly change the momentum of a game. With their longevity, one might end up as the 5th best player ever outside the big 4, and the other as the all time leading goal scorer. I'll even go to the length and say this is the NHL equivalent to the Johnson/Bird rivalry.
Some of the other rivalries which I didn't think much of remind me of overrated player rivalries in other sports. Gretzky/Lemieux reminds me of Lebron/Kobe. Opposite conferences, very different play styles, and the age difference meant there were few single seasons where it was a legitimate debate for who was better at that moment. Thought Lemieux is closer to Gretzky than Kobe is to Lebron. Meanwhile, Roy vs Hasek reminds me of Brady vs Rodgers. The former one basically had a HOF career by the time the latter one became a starter, and usually had better teams around him, while the younger one was the better pure talent. Mostly opposite conferences too.
Similarly, you could say the Roy/Hasek rivalry overshadowed the superior Roy/Belfour rivalry in similar ways that the Lebron/Kobe rivalry overshadowed the far better Lebron/Durant rivalry. One last thing, when there was a debate in the late 2000's between the Sid/Ovie vs Lebron/Kobe rivalries, I said all along that the Sid/Ovie rivalry was better AINEC.
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Crosby vs Ovechkin AINEC. Havent even heard of half the other guys lol
Man i misread the question thought it was Croaby/Ovi fan rivalry.
Came here to say this and hope the Bedard/Michov rivalry will be as good.
powerbomb
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Yeah, I don't know if most of these were really rivalries or just pitting two talents from the same generation after the fact. It's unmistakable that Ovechkin and Crosby is a lived rivalry that was hashed out within the division and in the playoffs on many occasions, which makes it pretty much win by default.
The Crypto Guy
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Luigi Lemieux
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Mohar Ikram
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As much as the intensity of Crosby vs Ovechkin are..... Both of them are pretty cool off the ice.
That's why I went with Howe and Richard.... That animosity stays even after Richard have long gone. Howe indeed said 6 years prior to his death, he hated Richard during their playing heydays (and vice versa). Of course as times goes by, they became friends.
But off-ice and on-ice during their career..... welp, they cannot stand each other.
One of the scenes happened when Maurice goes into the rink and stops Howe froms scoring on a breakaway. He got too many men on the ice penalty for 2 minutes and he doesn't care a bit about it as long as Howe did not score.
One more thing, Howe never scores 50 goals ever in a season, one of the achievement that Richard really delighted until his retirement.
Intense and Petty..... at the same time.
www.greatesthockeylegends.com
That's why I went with Howe and Richard.... That animosity stays even after Richard have long gone. Howe indeed said 6 years prior to his death, he hated Richard during their playing heydays (and vice versa). Of course as times goes by, they became friends.
But off-ice and on-ice during their career..... welp, they cannot stand each other.
One of the scenes happened when Maurice goes into the rink and stops Howe froms scoring on a breakaway. He got too many men on the ice penalty for 2 minutes and he doesn't care a bit about it as long as Howe did not score.
One more thing, Howe never scores 50 goals ever in a season, one of the achievement that Richard really delighted until his retirement.
Intense and Petty..... at the same time.
Gordie Howe's Rivalry With Rocket Richard
Myth has it that in one of the many games between the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens back in the 1950s Gordie Howe jumped of...
sr edler
gold is not reality
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This comes across as a bait attempt, there's no way you don't know Hasek is older than Roy and played in both the Worlds and Canada Cup before Roy was even an NHL player.
Forsberg's 1st shift in the league Lindros threw a huge bodycheck on him so his helmet flew off. According to Forsberg though the rivalry cooled off when the Nordiques were relocated.
I went with Gretzky-Lemieux. I'm not sure there was ever any animosity between them, but I remember so well being in grade school in the late 80's/early 90's and it seemed like one definitive rule was you were either a Gretzky fan or a Lemieux fan. Couldn't be both. So ridiculous, I know, but it definitely shaped the two as rivals in my mind.
FWIW, I was always on the Gretzky side. Then I got older and realized how incredible both are, and now am fans of both. But as a kid, you had to pick one or the other.
FWIW, I was always on the Gretzky side. Then I got older and realized how incredible both are, and now am fans of both. But as a kid, you had to pick one or the other.
norrisnick
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Crosby/Ov was/is a fan thing. Those two very rarely matched up against each other head to head because neither was good enough defensively to cover the other.
CupInSIX
My cap runneth over
Sid vs Ovie is the only one that actually rivalled the incredibly forced media billing.
Never thought of Roy v Hasek as a rivaly. Roy was one of the best playoff goalies of all time, and Hasek is arguably the greatest regular season goalie of all time (if you want the best of both worlds, severely underrated Brodeur is your man).
I never saw Mario coming out from Wayne's shadow as a rivalry.
Never thought of Roy v Hasek as a rivaly. Roy was one of the best playoff goalies of all time, and Hasek is arguably the greatest regular season goalie of all time (if you want the best of both worlds, severely underrated Brodeur is your man).
I never saw Mario coming out from Wayne's shadow as a rivalry.
sr edler
gold is not reality
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Yeah, I was about to say this too. It seemed to me young Crosby had more antagonistic match-ups against either Zetterberg or Giroux than Ovechkin.
It was an incredibly milquetoast-ish fan/media driven rivalry. Nothing ever really happened between these two players on the actual ice outside of them trying to outscore each other.
