Comments on: A Rivalry Is Reborn (and Surprise, It's Not in the Southeast)

By: Caps_and_Bucks_Fan

Caps_and_Bucks_Fan — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:34:16 +0000

Please, oh please, get rid of the Southeast division and put us back where we belong. Washington/PA/NY — its such a natural grouping. We don’t belong in the Special Olympics league. Please fix this nightmare.

By: OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)

OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:19:10 +0000

@ ScottyMac: Ha! Nice dig at Carolina. And great post overall, thanks for contributing.
@ Pelle: Excellent input yet again. Though nobody actually egged Ovi’s house, they just threatened it by placing two unbroken eggs on his wall with a note. Still, a bit creepy for sure. And your final sentence rings true, though only because you included “(hockey)”.

By: pelle31lives

pelle31lives — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:33:59 +0000

Great game on Tuesday, even though the Caps won. I’m a bit of a revisionist, and would have been satisfied in a 1-1 tie because shootouts should remain buried in the minors. Seemed fitting as both teams played well enough not to be hung with an L.
Agreed about realignment. It has NEVER made sense that Pittsburgh (305 miles) is in the Atlantic with Philly when DC (130 miles) is way closer.
If only the Penguins had moved to Kansas City this year, it would have opened up the slot for Washington to go into the Atlantic and for Nashville to slide into the abyss that is the Southeast.
Until that happens, four games a year between the teams isn’t enough to stoke the fires for both sides properly. Six or seven games per year back in the day, along with a master motivator in the Dale Hunter mold, will do the trick.
As for the Flyers fans, from my quasi-professional perch, they’ll act and react crazy against most teams with star players. Doesn’t really matter if it’s a good team or not, if there’s someone in the spotlight, he and his team’s got a target on his back for sure and will be taunted vocally at the very least.
Shocked to hear that someone actually egged Ovechkin’s house. Christ, nobody’s ever been so overwrought here to do something like that to our own (hockey) players.

By: scottymac

scottymac — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:00:14 +0000

It was linked to from Puck Daddy on Yahoo.
Seriously though, Caps as a rivalry are after PIT, NJD and NYR to us. Maybe behind MTL as well.
We booed Ovie after that dive he pulled in the playoffs last year. Without a doubt, the best player in hockey. Which is exactly why we booed the dive, we expect more from him. We see enough of that with Crosby.
Hats off to the Caps, they won the game. No excuses about 6 game road trip and all the injuries. You line up and play, no crying about it.
It is interesting (funny in a patronizing way) how your newspapers and media down there seem to have suddenly found hockey. The vitriol directed at us is amusing. The one Post writer who said our women should work Megadeth concert security was some funny stuff.
Flyers fans look forward to you guys learning about hockey and supporting your team. You guys are a smidge past those Cup posers in Carolina now.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:56:44 +0000

the reorganization of the divisions ruined the Flyers-Caps rivalry, and unless they’re put back into the same division it will probably never regain the same fire. The Flyers are in a division that will have 4 of the East’s 8 playoff teams for the 2nd straight year, meaning the Flyers have 3 other teams who are currently more important to them than the Caps. Flyers-Rangers is New York-Philly. That needs no explanation. The Flyers and Devils went through a streak of about 10 years in which one or the other won the division. It was always just a 2 horse race. Now that Pittsburgh is finally respectable again, there’s an in-state division rivalry. If the Flyers and Caps were in the same division they could renew that great rivalry, but right now Washington seems to be on Phily’s 2nd tear of rivals along with Toronto, Boston and Buffalo.
As for the Caps, they NEED to sell the rivalry with the Flyers. It’s really their only big game to get fired up for. Sorry Tampa, Florida, Atlanta, and Carolina, but you guys just don’t have what Washington is looking for in a big time rival. You can’t hate a team that you destroy in every meeting.

By: Broad Street Bully

Broad Street Bully — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:10:30 +0000

nobody ever gave a damn about the capitals until ove showed up and single handedly carried the team into the playoffs.
[Admin Note: The rest of this comment was removed due to homophobic statements and other violations of our comment policy... and of good taste.]

By: nuftjedi

nuftjedi — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:55:14 +0000

the disdain for the SE division is nothing new. The Caps got screwed more than any other team with the current divisional lineup by being shifted out of a division with teams they played and fought against for 20+ years into a division with 3 expansion teams and one relocated team…. all of which are further away than all the teams in the Atlantic.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:42:43 +0000

I’m a huge diehard Flyers fan so I feel like I have a little authority to speak for my people. Real fans not the bandwagon jumpers who hate Pittsburgh all of a sudden. The Flyer’s real rivals are the Rangers and Devils, with the Maple Leafs and Bruins thrown in. However, I do respect that the Caps are fighting to find a rival, it’s a wonderful thing, they are head and shoulders above their division and need to compete with someone. While the Flyguys with always need people to hate them, the fact remains the best rivalries are going to remain interdivisional, so the if the Patrick division comes back (and here is to hoping it does) I’ll welcome the Caps as a real rival. As for now, they go in the teams I have a strong dislike for, but good for you guys, you get Ovechkin which is pretty damn sweet.

By: Herb Sewell

Herb Sewell — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:28:22 +0000

Since the Caps are south of the Mason-Dixon line, they should really be contracted, too. That’s obviously why you hate Tampa, Florida, Carolina, and Atlanta. Also, you have to consider getting rid of Dallas, Phoenix, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Nashville, and San Jose (on similar latitude with Roanoke, VA and central Kentucky). Don’t stop at the Southeast division, as it makes you seem ignorant of geography.

By: Blueshirts2

Blueshirts2 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:53:05 +0000

I agree…I’ve been saying we need the Patrick for a while now…I impressed someone at the Rangers/Caps game in December (when we choked a la Montreal last season), since the last year of the Patrick was when I was 9…Get rid of 3 SE teams (Sorry Florida, TB, and Atlanta, who blew their shot w/the Flames), move the Canes back to Hartford to make divisions equal. And make the Flyers wear orange again, and the Devils go back to red and green, HAHA!