Rivalries in the MLH

Rivalries in the MLH  come in many categories. As some of these teams are young, many of the rivalries have carried over from the days when some used to be based somewhere else , while others are new and may disappear. Some are based on geography, while others are based on team names or organization that these teams belonged when a original team was still around. Not all teams have pronounced rivalries that don't change with each season - this article attempts to chronicle only those that last for multiple years.

Inspired by the European tradition, rivalries in the Major League Hockey prefers using the term "Derbies".

## Geographic rivalries

### Battle for New York

* New York Americans vs New York Republic

NYA is located in Manhattan,NY while NYR is located in Buffalo,NY. The majority of the derby games are more in the regular season, which the two teams have met 6 times in the playoffs having 2 times be in the AHC Championship.

### Two Capitals Derbies

* Navy Virginia vs Toronto Dynamo

A continuation of the general rivalry between Navy Virginia and Toronto Dynamo, this rivalry encompasses Toronto against Navy Virginia, although this rivalry is a Canadian-American. The most tense time for the rivalry was in 1999-2000 Season.

### Lone Star Series

* Dallas Chaos vs Texas Oilers
* Houston Stealth vs Dallas Chaos
* Texas Oilers vs Houston Stealth

The founding of new comer teams Houston Stealth and Dallas Chaos, these two new teams, saw that the Oilers finally had a team to be considered as a rival.

With three teams meeting each other a handful of times this would mark the first ever Lone Star series taking place in the playoffs. In one of the most exciting matches in the playoffs (Dallas Chaos vs Houston Stealth) both teams looked to be coming out with a win. To everyone's amazement, Chaos turned around the result scoring twice in the last five minute, leaving victorious on a 3-2 win. However, Stealth got the last laugh in Game 7 of the 2011 North American Cup Playoffs. Having A.J Moore of Houston Stealth scoring 5 times in a 7-2 win in Dallas.

### Carolina Derby

* Carolina Racers vs Carolina Crew HC

These 2 teams go back a long way, these were the original 2 Carolina hockey clubs. Racers as a side were formed in the 1940s, 50 years before Crew even existed; due to the teams mix in fortunes historically their only two meetings have been mostly in the regular season, either side winning 1. This changed in the infamous Round 2 of the 2015 North American Cup playoffs, where Crew had bested the Racers' Siberian Express line in 6 games before being swept by the Tampa Bay Swords. 2018's Playoffs provided a higher-profile version with the Racers sweeping 4-0.

### Nashville-Knoxville Derby

* Nashville Blues vs Knoxville Wings

A rivalry started by two underdogs meeting in the 2011 second round of the North American Cup Playoffs and met in the 2013 IIHF World Cup Pool C and further built with mutual respect for each other. With Nashville taking first blood by outgunning with a score of 5-1 and punching their ticket to the 2013 IIHF World Cup RO16. Fast forward to the 2019 IIHF World Cup Pool C, this time the roles were reversed and Knoxville won the match with a score of 9-3. Now with both teams being equal with playoff wins.

### California Derby

* Los Angeles Blades vs San Jose Stingrays
* Los Angeles HC vs Los Angeles Blades
* San Jose Stingrays vs Los Angeles HC

The rivalry between these 3 California teams began as a result of Los Angeles Blades joining the league along with the Blades joining, which established as geographical rivals to San Jose. At the time, the Stingrays and Blades were the only two MLH teams located in California before LAHC joining in 2011 as an expansion franchise. The Stingrays at the time were a historically unsuccessful team from the 1970-71 until the 1990s when they traded for the hall of fame center Anton Detrovolsky, despite not winning the MLH's cup they did make it to the IIHF World Cup finals but ended up losing 9-3 to SKA MVO.

### Sibling Rivalry

* Alberta Wild vs Winnipeg Rampage

This rivalry north of the border beholds as what many fans and spectators dub as "Hell in Canada". These two teams have met on numerous occasions and every playoff game against each other is a MUST WATCH as every game fails to disappoint. Both sides have been dirty every time they meet expect to see combat on hand, the heaviest this rivalry has reached was in the 2000 Cup Playoffs (Game 3 Second Round) when the "Metropalace Incident" when the Wild faced off in the former Metropalace against the Rampage. The incident went as Rampage defenseman Arkady Vasiliev floored Alberta Wild goaltender and younger sibling Vladislav (Vladim) Vasiliev which lead to the many events of a large bench clearing with Arkady being thrashed by Wild's Captain Oliver Bergman. This rivalry and incident will go down as the 3rd violent fight in Major League history.

### Propane Nightmares

* Chicago Stars vs Toronto Dynamo

What does the name have to do with these two teams? Back in 2008, there was a promo for the AHC Championship with the poster of the captain at the time Garret Aurora and Vice Captains, Craig Stewart and Tom Garrison of Toronto Dynamo standing at the entrance of the black outline of the city of Chicago with the caption "Hell In Windy City" with Pendulum's Propane Nightmares playing. This particular song is a staple of the rivalry between the two teams. The rivalry died down after 2008 when Toronto bested Chicago in 5 games eventually going to the North American Cup finals only to fall in 7 games against Dallas Chaos.

## Interconference rivalry

### Swormpage

* Tampa Bay Swords vs Winnipeg Rampage

No this is no ship or tag team,While the two teams have played each other since the Swords joined the league in 1970, their rivalry began to develop in the 1994–95 season, when they met in the first of four North American Cup Finals, with the last matchup happening in 2015. Prior to their matchups, no pair of teams had faced each other in more than two Cup Finals. Of these four series, the Rampage have won three of the finals meetup (1992, 1995, and 2015) and the Swords, one (2016). The Finals rivalry ended in the 2016–17 season, during which the Rampage missed the playoffs following Levi Carr's retirement.

### Americans v Railmen

* New York Americans vs Montreal Railmen

Railmen and Americans have been minor rivals since the trade of Timor Kurri to the Railmen during the 2004–05 season. The rivalry began to heat up as the two teams faced each other in the opening round of the 2007 North American Cup Playoffs, with Montreal shutting out the series, 4–0, after a breakaway by Calvin Irons with 8 seconds left in Game 4 ensuring a 3-1 defeat for the Americans. The rivalry was rekindled during the 2013–14 season when the Railmen and Americans battled for the Challenger Cup. The Americans won the best record but then faced the Railmen in the opening round of the 2014 North American Conference finals. The hard-fought series lasted seven games, and was decided in the final seconds when Kyle Pierce's save against Tim Blackwood giving the Americans the win and the trip to the Cup Finals in 24 years.

###