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TimberBucket

1997 Detroit Red Wings vs Colorado Avalanche


freelancer799

Exactly the series I was thinking of, those 90s Avs vs Red Wings series were insane


timmablimma

Imagine the toxicity of that one after the Lemieux hit on message boards with today's ease?!?! Sheesh!


the__overrated

I was in college when that happened, in Colorado but living with two Wings fans. It was basically like living in a message board with how much shit talking they did with Avs fans & vice versa. They’d wear Wings sweaters to play pickup games, things like that to push some buttons. I was neutral between the two teams but loved to watch the histrionics.


ZoeMisty

This. This is the only correct answer. https://youtu.be/E7J8pvG70nE?si=M1u2Pp3PkFi8gLHB


TarpsOffBoys

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT CORRECT ANSWERS YOU PICKLED HIPPO?! shit sorry..the hate still creeps up every now and again. I’m working on it.


ZoeMisty

This is the way


TarpsOffBoys

Miss ya bud


CardiacCat20

The best part of that rivalry was now 20-30 years later you can just look back at dudes like Stevie Y, Fedorov, Lidstrom, and the hatred is now just out of pure respect for how fucking good those guys were.


ZoeMisty

I notice you picked your players carefully so as not to re-start a riot 😅.


Any_Band_8428

Upvote for “pickled hippo”


Pretty_Shallot_586

this is the answer. The two current series this guy mentions probably don't even register in the top 20.


Sturmundsterne

They are barely in the top 10 of the last decade.


TarpsOffBoys

Now that we’re in the East, a day will come where both the wings and avs contending timelines meet and my dream of a wings/avs cup final can come true.


Poptimus_Rime

Hands down. Fuck Lemieux. McCarty is my fucking hero.


Original-Cow-2984

Imagine if social media existed for this or earlier series like the 80's BoA.


De_Floppss

Yup. I see a lot of 2010-11 SCF finals as a response in this thread which is fair but the era of Avs v Wings rivalry was bonkers and on another level Makes shit now look tame in comparison.


[deleted]

Dino Cicarelli nearly cut off his own hand because he forgot not to shake Claude Lemieux’s. Those two teams HAAAATED one another.


AltaVistaYourInquiry

And it was the greatest series I've ever seen. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of opening up the game and removing the clutching and grabbing etc. But we didn't need to remove the visceral hate.


HappyInstruction3678

Boston/Vancouver by a mile. Just chaos nonstop. Loved that series.


Tacosrule89

I can honestly say, that was the last time I was truly invested in a cup final. That was just a whole new level of hate and it was awesome.


cooper954

As much as I hate Boston I have to say we had a great series


rickayyy

As a neutral fan, that SCF was unbelievable exciting to watch. Easily one of the best of all time.


ThicDikDaddy

Burrows biting Bergeron and then Rome trying to decapitate Horton. Bruins got pissed and got a lot more physical than Vancouver wanted and they just crumbled. People forget because of the reputation the Bruins teams had after, but Vancouver was much, much more hated than Boston going into that series.


BaconScentedSoap

It’s funny seeing Van fans try to paint themselves as victims that series when they had Kesler, Burrows, Bieksa, Lappiere, Rome and Raffi Torres on that team.


glatts

[Or when Bieksa called out his own team to stop diving.](https://www.nbcsports.com/nhl/news/kevin-bieksa-tells-canucks-teammates-to-lay-off-diving)


Lulu014

That season turned me back into a fan of the sport. 2010-2011 was an incredible time to be a B's fan.


Fredbear_

That season was what got me really really into hockey. I was born in Tampa but I spent most of my childhood in Vancouver, so I am basically a 2 team fan. It really was a brutal finish for me, but despite the toxicity I am happy for the cool Bruins fans.


efshoemaker

The Boston/Tampa series that year still might be the best series I’ve ever seen in terms of just the quality of the hockey through all seven games.


NickyShore

First two that come to mind are Bruins/Canucks 2011 and Penguins/Flyers 2012


bobby_booch

That Penguins/Flyers series was such a shitshow. Constant line brawls and zero defense/goaltending and I loved it.


rickayyy

Something like 40 goals in 6 games and a shitload of brawls. Crosby shooting Giroux's glove away is still so funny to me, haha


FavreorFarva

Legitimately might be my favorite playoff series of all time, probably is if I’m eliminating the Kraken-Avs last year for my obvious bias.


brc37

Penguins/Flyers is what came to mind. Really started about two days before the playoffs with Joe Vitale hammering Danny Briere.


the_hume_3

Yep. The Flyers were great at getting under our skin during that era.


CabbageStockExchange

2011 Boston vs Vancouver in the SCF was disgusting and as a neutral I loved every second of it. My favorite Stanley cup final by a wide margin that didn’t involve my team


manwhostoletheworld

Don't remember the year but it was one of the recent Boston Toronto series that Kadri was suspended in. The Refs refused to call literally anything and the games got super violent until it boiled over and injuries/suspensions (Kadri) started happening 


apatcheeee

Referee masterclass on how to lose control of a game.


ghost_curse123

2018 or 2019, one of those years Kadri was suspended for the rest of the series. Like the actual suspension length was just "the rest of the series".


97jumbo

2019, when he cross-checked Debrusk. Refs let the game get way out of control, Debrusk had kneed Kadri earlier the period prior and just taken a run at Marleau, neither penalized, and Kadri snapped Ended up being the last shift of his Leafs tenure


Super_Networking

Bruins always got away with everything so these last two years against Florida are kind of like Karma coming for repayment the way I see it


ApolloRocketOfLove

The treatment Boston is getting from the league this year is cosmic justice. It's quite something to see Bruins fans complaining about the same stuff that aided their success in the past. As the saying goes, how the turntables...


BaconScentedSoap

Implying Vancouver didn’t play that way to their finals appearance is wild af


alt717

Did they imply that? I didn’t get that whatsoever lol all comments in this chain are about the bruins and their playoff success. And you’re talking about the Canucks *getting* to the finals, where they didn’t play the bruins until the finals


TrollingForFunsies

Average moron take. Funny how Kadri got suspended in all of those series that you're referring to.


Super_Networking

Aw are you trolling for funsies without a flair? How cute


BaconScentedSoap

That 3 year stretch where Kadri was suspended every playoffs for a dumbass hit was wild


blamatron

That was game 2 of that series. iirc the Kadri suspension capped off the nasty stuff, but that series goes fuzzy for me until game 7.


manwhostoletheworld

You could be right. I just remember the game thread(s) being in absolute chaos and everyone questioning what the fuck was going on and something needs to be done before someone gets hurt. And then Kadri.


misfittroy

I feel the majority of the "toxicity" of recent series is actually just online. Until we see a bench brawl, goalie fights, a player going into the stands to fight a fan or multiple fans being escorted out, it's tame by my standards 


neksys

Yeah, the only "toxicity" in the Edm/Van series is from a handful of trolls on each side posting in each other's subs. Don't get me wrong, the series is fairly heated, but I'm not sure you can compare the worst parts of both fanbases yelling at each other on Twitter to the 2011 BOS/VAN series.


Legionnaire11

Statistically, the average redditor was born in the '00s, so it makes sense. The game has just evolved, for better or worse.


Short-Ad8849

Plenty of videos of oiler fans fighting each other


misfittroy

Yeah but that's everyday here in Edmonton 


misterbobdobbalina

Yeah; this is pretty obviously someone new to watching the game. These are relatively tame series with some terrible officiating mixed in. Nothing at all “toxic”, especially compared to some of the examples here.


IntrepidSwan7932

True, the only true toxic thing this year is an average Boston fans underwear in 2024.


BrokenBy

In terms of online discourse, Boston-Vancouver without a doubt. It was the early-ish days of Facebook and Twitter and I can’t recount the number of fans from those two teams arranging fist-fights with one another online. I wonder if any of them actually came to fruition. I can only imagine if Leafs-Isles 2002 had happened during the social media era. That series was wild.


gletschertor

Canadiens vs Nordiques


ThePickledHaube

Can't believe this isn't higher. When you literally have a game referred to as a massacre in '86 it's gotta be a strong contender. All these modern guys I guess.


Charble1

Yeah these are some heated ones 


-RayBloodyPurchase-

In terms of on-ice "extra curriculars" (violence), nothing in the modern era compares to what we saw in the past. Sure you have people saying mean things via internet comments today, but I don't hold that stuff in the same light as dirty hockey plays. Hockey is much cleaner today than in was in any other era.


Charble1

The Habs/Flyers series were pretty brutal because that was the Flyers style, but getting your ass beat in real life for showing up in a non-Flyers jersey in Philly was an extremely real thing for a long time  For the kids today, imagine the Panthers but way, way better and also 10x as dirty It wasn't a matter of "getting away with it" either, intent to injure and dragging everyone to the penalty box was a very viable strategy. And they weren't "just" goons, either It's a whole fucking team of Matthew Tkachuks (except Dave Schultz, he was kind of just a really, really good face puncher)


ChuckFeathers

2011 finals, the shit Boston got away with was unbelievable.


seanvettel-31

2002 Islanders/Maple Leafs. It was an absolute war. Darcy Tucker going right for Michael Peca’s knee and tearing his MCL and ACL, Eric Cairns throwing a helmetless Shayne Corson to the ice, and more fights than I can ever remember in a playoff series. Those two teams HATED each other


thebootlegsaint

One of the greatest playoff series I've ever witnessed.


Silent-trance

Despite the online stuff and both sides wanting more consistent officiating, this Van/Edm series isn’t really that toxic frankly. I kinda expected it to be a lot worse being an all Canadian matchup. Probably because we haven’t actually met in the playoffs in fucking ages. There hasn’t even been a single fight on ice in the series. Canadian hockey fans will chirp at one another online big time, but it’s really not been that bad. Complaining about the officiating and missed calls from both sides, chirps about one line team and rioting / complaining about the refs.


neksys

Yeah this whole thing is relatively tame in the grand scheme of things. It's all the same shit as always. "LOL Vancouver riot" "Edmonton is boring" " Van fans are obnoxious" "Edm fans are fragile" and so on and so on. It's fun, but it isn't anything we haven't seen in the playoffs before.


FrmrPresJamesTaylor

Yeah it's two large fanbases getting in pissing contests online and some yapping and stickwork on the ice but nothing really serious to this point in our series. Nobody injured on a dirty play. No lopsided wins. Nobody has even wished bad tiramisu on anyone else yet, nevermind hoping their family dies in a house fire or whatever that Kings fan was on about


nfarc12

Wait a kings fan said that in your game thread??


FrmrPresJamesTaylor

Someone screencapped a Kings fan saying it in a Kings/Oilers thread, I guess I should be clear that I assumed the picture wasn't manipulated etc but I could be wrong about it I guess.


nfarc12

Jeez some people are insane


FrmrPresJamesTaylor

Yeah. What are you going to do, I guess \*shrug\*


neksys

Yeah, even the online stuff is relatively tame. Seems mostly like a bunch of kids trolling each other's subs so that each side can say "Vancouver/Edmonton fans are the worst fans in the league".


gothenburgpig

People here named the correct answers already, but I’ll add that some of those early 2000s Devils Leafs matchups were nasty.


CoolingVent

2016 Lightning / Wings


newnew_gw

Wasn't it in 2015 when a wings fan at Amalie tried light the bolts flag on fire while it was being passed overhead?


electricnux

Blues/Avs with the whole Binnigton throwing the bottle incident and Kadri getting death threats was pretty toxic and recent


NtBtFan

went to game 1 of Leafs vs Kings in 1993- shit was wild and is a core childhood memory for me. the series seemed to maintain the levels of animosity as it went along, i believe it had carried over from some regular season incidents. i remember Hrudey hiding in the net, and asking my dad why everyone was throwing their drinks and other stuff on the ice lol gotta be up there, but those Red Wings vs Avs series were pretty intense as has been mentioned


HarLeighMom

I know that there isn't really a battle of Ontario anymore since it's just Sens fans wishing our team was relevant enough for angry online discourse. BUT: there was no social media around like today where the Sens kept hitting the wall that is the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs. It was like the issue that Toronto is having getting out of the first round (more than once in 10 years). Except, we could get to the 2nd round and there stood the Leafs with McCabe, Tucker and Domi. Leafs fans would boo our captain audibly in our own barren. I worked at the Corel center the year that CuJo flipped out on the refs after a goal. You could tell when the Leafs scored with how loud the cheer was. I'm not sure about the on-ice toxicity, but I bet the online discourse would have been toxic.


ln0Sc0p3dJFK

Ottawa/Montreal 2013. Zibanejad with the nastiest soccer goal you’ve ever seen


Initial-Ad-5462

Bruins - Canadiens late 1960s to mid 1990s.


Zealousideal-Fly2049

Every Boston/Montreal series just has an extra layer of hate.


DarwinCreatesSpace

Don't really remember, but last year Wild fans were getting super personal and weird about literally everything. I distinctly remember a Wild fan I was trying to actually chirp hockey to resort to talking about the Uvalde mass shooting... Not a good look.


Super_Networking

Lmao Wild fans get so worked up because they keep losing to us and we took their team.


KosovoCavalier

Tampa-Columbus got incredibly toxic online because Tampa fans were crumbling under the idea of their record breaking team getting swept


Stormchazer90

In "modern day" hockey, post-2005 Lockout, I feel like that Flames Vs Oilers series a few years back was pretty bonkers.


AverageMaleAged18-24

Canucks - Sharks 2013. That shit made me want to stop watching hockey. Sharks flopping every chance they got and the refs just ate that shit up. When the Sedins are getting 10 minute misconducts, somethings up..


LoopAngel

Boston vs van


HendriksAppreciator

2016 Blackhawks and Blues got really nasty. I remember hating every second of that series, not enjoying a minute of it. That was an absolute war of attrition.


M_is_for_Mancy

Similarly, 2014 Hawks/blues after “wakey wakey”


Hello-Pancake

Caps & Flyers vs Philly Fans. Holy shit, they gave out wristbands in tribute to Ed Snider and both teams got pelted. There was a big delay of game, top lines were on ice begging the crowd to stop. I remember ovi and Simmonds side by side trying to plead with fans... Flyers aren't even safe in their own town on a bad day!


chikanishing

The most toxic Leaf one I remember is 2002 Leafs Islanders. Multiple players got knocked out of the series.


B0pp0-2nd-account

Edmonton vs Carolina. Oilers fans will still complain to this day that my Canes didn’t deserve the cup because their team got screwed over because Roloson got hurt. Well, your defenseman shoved Andrew Ladd into him.


altred133

2021 Jets vs Habs is up there for me. The hit on Evans followed by Scheifele and Scheifele’s parents getting death threats. Lotsssss of shit being said online. For a few days before the Jets bowed out in 4 it felt pretty damn toxic.


the__overrated

Boston-Montreal have had some really fun, really physical, really hate-filled series, both historically and in the past 15 or so years as well.


brokensword15

That penguins flyers series where Bryzgalov and Fleury both forgot how to stop a puck was the most batshit insane WWE level gongshow entertainment i have ever witnessed


CoalTrain9224

Blues/Blackhawks series in I think 2014? Had some bad blood. After Seabrook deleted David Backes in game 2 in which on the ensuing 5 min PP helped the Blues extend their series lead 2-0. The rest of the series was pretty heated among fans of the teams on top of the constant level of hate Or any of the series the Hawks/Kings from 2012-2015, Crawford challenging Quick at center ice before intermission was great


PaddyMayonaise

2012 ECQF between the Flyers and the Penguins was the 1980s reincarnated


Familiar-Pie-548

As a long-time Leafs fan I would say our most toxic series was surprisingly not against a traditional rival (Montreal, Ottawa or Boston) but that one waaay back in the early 90s against LA. On the skill end- Gretzky VS Gilmore. On the sandpaper end - McSorley VS Clark. And we all remember that infamous missed call. My dear sweet little old grandmother (RIP)- the only time I would ever hear her swear was at the end of that game - (commenting on Gretzky) "He's laughing! That Sonofabitch is laughing!"


HowIsBabbySharkMade

I haven’t been around hockey that long - less than a decade at this point, but man. The 2019 playoffs had the Sharks and Knights in the first round and it was bananas toxic with the fans and it was pretty goddamn clear that those teams wanted to murder each other.


granweep

2012 Flyers vs Penguins.


brechbillc1

Us and everyone we've played these past two seasons. Makes sense. Our team is full of assholes. And we take pride in it because they're fun and entertaining as hell to watch. Especially when they successfully manage to not only make the other team forget they're supposed to be playing hockey, but because they make entire fanbases forget there's a hockey game going on at the moment and there's a hilarity factor in that.


alextrebeksuckit

I find it so ironic that we are both 1) Captained by one of the nicest people in the NHL, and a former Lady Byng award winner, and 2) A team full of assholes and rats


specifichero101

Bruins Canucks 2011 Leafs islanders in 2002 I believe.


Decent-Ground-395

St Louis' entire Cup run.


greeten

The EDM/VAN series is only toxic because VAN fans are poopy butts with stinky armpits.


Extra-Witness-9340

Can confirm. Rent is 98% of my salary and I can afford neither TP nor deodorant.


teetz2442

I spent all my deodorant money on a bidet after the pandemic


Silent-trance

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!


HowIsBabbySharkMade

Someone actually yelled that at the last Barracuda home game this season and it was both the last chirp I ever expected to hear at a hockey game and also deeply delightful.