Diehard hockey fans make fun of NBC for their weekly Wednesday Night Rivalry event, and for good reason: it’s kind of a gimmick and we all know it’s a gimmick. But in reality, it’s pretty good marketing: create buzz out of events that otherwise would not have any buzz at all.
That doesn’t mean we can’t make fun of the games NBC picks for Rivalry Night.
Here’s the list of Rivalry Night games in 2015-16. We bolded the ones that … you know, are actual rivalries.
| October 7 | N.Y. Rangers | Chicago | 8 p.m. |
| October 14 | Chicago | Philadelphia | 8 p.m. |
| October 21 | Philadelphia | Boston | 8 p.m. |
| October 28 | Pittsburgh | Washington | 8 p.m. |
| November 4 | St. Louis | Chicago | 8 p.m. |
| November 11 | Montreal | Pittsburgh | 7:30 p.m. |
| November 18 | Washington | Detroit | 8 p.m. |
| December 2 | N.Y. Rangers | N.Y. Islanders | 8 p.m. |
| December 9 | Boston | Montreal | 7:30 p.m. |
| December 16 | Pittsburgh | Boston | 8 p.m. |
| January 6 | Pittsburgh | Chicago | 8 p.m. |
| January 13 | Boston | Philadelphia | 8 p.m. |
| January 20 | St. Louis | Detroit | 8 p.m. |
| January 27 | Philadelphia | Washington | 8 p.m. |
| February 3 | Detroit | Tampa Bay | 8 p.m. |
| February 10 | N.Y. Rangers | Pittsburgh | 8 p.m. |
| February 17 | Chicago | N.Y. Rangers | 8 p.m. |
| February 24 | Pittsburgh | Boston | 7:30 p.m. |
| March 2 | Chicago | Detroit | 8 p.m. |
| March 9 | Chicago | St. Louis | 8 p.m. |
| March 16 | Philadelphia | Chicago | 8 p.m. |
| March 23 | Boston | N.Y. Rangers | 8 p.m. |
| March 30 | Washington | Philadelphia | 8 p.m. |
| April 6 | Philadelphia | Detroit | 8 p.m. |
- The Flyers and Blackhawks are not rivals — maybe in 2011 they were, but not now. Not when this Flyers team is completely unrecognizable from the 2010 team that lost to Chicago in the Final. And not when the teams play twice a dang year.
- The Flyers and Detroit are not rivals. It’s been 18 years since they played in the Final, and they’ve spent nearly that entire time in different conferences. The friggin’ Carolina Hurricanes are a bigger rival to the Flyers than the Red Wings are.
- …. Detroit vs. Tampa Bay is on this list ….
- ….. ….. . …. .. please stop trying to force the Steve Yzerman thing ….
- I’m just not going to consider Montreal-Pittsburgh a rivalry. I mean, you could probably say every Eastern Conference team has a rivalry with Montreal. It doesn’t make it true.
- Pittsburgh-Boston barely qualifies for that matter, too. Only reason I’m considering it one is because of Cooke-Savard and the Jarome Iginla thing from a few years back.
- The Blackhawks vs. the Rangers. I mean, what?
- Of note: not a single Flyers-Penguins game on Wednesday Night Rivalry.
Oh well, at least there will be jokes to make again.
