Ranking the top 5 greatest NHL rivalries of all-time

4. Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings

Much like Calgary and Edmonton, Chicago and Detroit are natural rivals. The Pistons annoyed the living heck out of the Bulls early in Michael Jordan’s career and the Bears and Lions have never liked each other. But the greatest rivalry between these two cities was the one between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings.

As two of the oldest teams in the league, the Blackhawks and Red Wings have faced each other a ton of times. 820 times, if you want to be precise. In 739 regular season games, the Red Wings have the advantage with a 369-271-84-15 record. However, the Blackhawks have the advantage in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 43-36-0-2 record.

The rivalry was at its best in the 1960s, when the two teams faced each other in the postseason five times from 1961 to 1966. One of those times (1961) was in the Stanley Cup Final, which was won by the Blackhawks in six games. However, the 1980s and 1990s saw a bit of a resurgence.

The Blackhawks remained the Red Wings greatest rival until 1996. We’ll get to that later. But the rivalry died out when the Red Wings moved to the Eastern Conference in 2013. Still, hats off to one heck of a rivalry that lasted for nearly 90 years.