Rivalry

A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant or side a rival to the other. Someone's main rival may be called an archrival. A rivalry can be defined as "a perceptual categorizing process in which actors identify which states are sufficiently threatening competitors". In order for the rivalry to persist, rather than resulting in perpetual dominance by one side, it must be "a competitive relationship among equals". Political scientist John A. Vasquez has asserted that equality of power is a necessary component for a true rivalry to exist, but others have disputed that element.

Rivalries traverse many different fields within society and "abound at all levels of human interaction", often existing between friends, firms, sports teams, schools, and universities. Furthermore, "[f]amilies, politicians, political parties, ethnic groups, regional sections of countries, and states all engage in enduring rivalries of varying length and intensity". Rivalries develop from the product of competition and ritualism between different parties. In some cases, rivalry can become "so consuming that actors worry only about whether their actions will harm or benefit their rivals".

Rivalry Played out in ice hockey
Ice hockey in many ways has mimiced the social and ethnic rivalries of Canada itself.

Rivalry in the Canadian Experience as a Whole
Canada has traditionally been credited with two primary founding European peoples, the English and the French (excluding the indigenous people who were already living on the land now known as Canada). Many in those groups would socialize in those ethnic circles as Canada evolved.

With Canada and the United States both being nations founded by Europeans and built upon by immigration over several centuries the ethnic and religious backgrounds of the immigrants would draw them to others of similar backgrounds  creating early teams based on these groups. Many groups were victims of discrimination and dislike if not outright hatred in some cases. Some groups would be for people of particular religious backgrounds such as the Knights of Columbus for Roman Catholics.

Ethnic/Religious Pride
Many early teams would have names such as Shamrocks (with many of the players being Irish), Thistles (Scotish), Victorias (originally English but later on French as well). Many of these teams would have intense rivalries in city leagues.

Community Pride
Universities would be one of the first place where the athletic rivalry would be recorded in Canada. Queen's University and the Royal Military College are both located in Kingston, Ontario they have a rivalry on the ice which dates back to the start of competitive hockey in 1886 and continues to this day. The rivalry is for school pride and bragging rights in the community.

Ethnic Pride
The English-French rivalry has probably be most well known to be played out in the forms of:

the Montreal Canadiens-Toronto Maple Leafs which dates back to the founding of the National Hockey League. But there were other rivalries in Montreal involving the Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers and later the Montreal Maroons among others.

Provincial/Regional Bragging Rights
The Canadiens would also play out in the Battle of Quebec rivalry with the Quebec Nordiques. The Battle of Ontario between the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Battle of Alberta between the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers.

Many leagues at the senior and junior levels would also have teams that represented the sames larger communities year after year and would often meet in provincial playoffs/playdowns. Many of these games would pack arenas across Canada with fans from both communities and sometimes be as violent in the stands and outside the arena after the game as the game itself was on the ice.

Competitions such as the Herder Memorial Trophy (originally for the All-Newfoundland Senior hockey championship when Newfoundland was an independent dominion within the British Empire) and later the top level senior men's championship in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador have had teams from St. John's as well as teams from the suburbs, central Newfoundland, the West Coast, and the northeastern part of the island battle in competition which would often be decided in a final series that would be held at Memorial Stadium in St. John's and in the home rinks of teams from across the island.

Frequent Meetings
Rivalries such as the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens (see List of most common NHL playoff series) would be based off of seeing each other year after year in the playoffs (after seeing each other 10-12 times per season, depending on schedule length) with extremely competitive play (and controversial moments) such as the Richard Riot in 1955 (which was a major moment in the English-French Rivalry within Canada itself and the start of Quebec Separatist Movement the Quiet Revolution in Quebec). With television becoming the primary way many would take in the game after expansion of the league phantom penalty calls or non calls such as when in 1979 Bruins fans "strongly disagreed with a Too many men penalty called against the Bruins late in game 7 of the 1979 Stanley Cup  semifinals game at the Forum in which the Canadiens would tie the game on the ensuing power play and win it in overtime.  Bruins fans often felt they would be playing both the Canadiens and the officials whenever they would play in Montreal due to the games being so competitive and the games themselves usually so close in score.

Similar rivalries would involve many of the Original Six teams with the use of home and home games during the regular season with frequent occurrences of playing in Montreal on Saturday for a Hockey Night in Canada radio broadcast and in Boston on Sunday as Sunday games were not held in Montreal. The second game in many of the home and homes would tend to be a little bit more physical as team would have some built up anger from playing the same team the night before.

Player Rivalries
Players that would be associated with a team would often be involved in what would be perceived as rivalries. Players associated with one team would be 'rivals' with other players such as a rivalry involving Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby would often be among leading scorers in the league of often candidates for the Hart Memorial Trophy as league Most Valuable Player.

Mutual Respect
Rivalries are often built on mutual respect. The Bruins and Canadiens rivalry shows that mutual respect.

In recent history players such as Zdeno Chara is booed loudly every time he would touch the puck in Montreal after he checked Max Pacioretty into a support for the plexiglass at the end of the bench area during a game injuring Pacioretty. In a show of how much of true fans of the game many Canadiens fans are on November 5, 2019. they gave Chara an ovation when the video display over the ice announced Chara was playing in his 1500th NHL game that night, Chara returned the acknowledgement to the crowd. The subsequently returned to booing him the next time he touched the puck.

A more notable event happened after the Bruins legendary Kraut Line played their last game prior to joining the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Members of both teams carried the three men off the ice on their shoulders.