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<\/a><\/p>\n\n On May 26, 2022, Oilers star Connor McDavid scored the overtime game-winner in Game 5 of the second round, which eliminated the Flames from the Stanley Cup playoffs. (Derek Leung \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Calgary Flames<\/p>\n
Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid<\/p>\n
For the older crowd, it\u2019s Gretzky. The greatest player of all time notched 230 career regular-season points against the Flames and asserted Edmonton\u2019s provincial dominance in the 1980s. For the younger generation, it\u2019s McDavid, whose 30 goals and 67 points are the most he\u2019s put up against any team. And for Flames fans, his second-round series-winning goal in 2022 in Calgary is a nightmare to relive. Especially when you consider where the Flames have been since. \u2014 Julian McKenzie<\/p>\n
Carolina Hurricanes<\/p>\n
Erik Haula<\/p>\n
Haula\u2019s tenure with the Hurricanes got off to a blazing hot start and fizzled just as quickly. Since he was traded away at the end of his only year in Raleigh, he\u2019s been an NHL nomad \u2014 his new team, Los Angeles, will be his sixth since 2020. His disdain for his former team is well known \u2014 he proudly sported a \u201cCanes Suck\u201d bracelet when with the Devils \u2014 and he\u2019s had a reason to be sour. Since leaving Carolina, he\u2019s been ousted from the playoffs four times with three different teams (Nashville, Boston and New Jersey twice) by the Hurricanes, earning jeers every time he touched the puck along the way. He has two goals and a 1-18-5 record at Lenovo Center since being dealt away. \u2014 Cory Lavalette<\/p>\n
Chicago Blackhawks<\/p>\n
Dino Ciccarelli <\/p>\n
When Denis Savard and Ciccarelli dropped their gloves in a Blackhawks-North Stars alumni game in 2016, it was all a joke, but no one would have been shocked if it had been real. For much of the 1980s, Ciccarelli had a way of getting under Savard\u2019s and the Blackhawks\u2019 skins. Chants of \u201cDino sucks\u201d filled the Chicago Stadium whenever he and Minnesota came into town. Those games were often epic, and Ciccarelli was part of the reason. \u2014 Scott Powers<\/p>\n
Colorado Avalanche<\/p>\n
Darren McCarty<\/p>\n
There were several different directions to possibly go with this choice. Todd Bertuzzi was in serious consideration for the incident that ended Steve Moore\u2019s career in 2004, but I opted to go with McCarty because the rivalry with the Red Wings in the 1990s and 2000s was one of the best in the sport\u2019s history, and McCarty is probably the best villain of that Red Wings squad. Sure, Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov were villains for playing major roles in many Avs defeats, but there\u2019s also a level of respect there because they were such incredible players. \u2014 Jesse Granger<\/p>\n
Columbus Blue Jackets<\/p>\n
Adam Foote<\/p>\n
Foote was the Blue Jackets captain in 2008 when he orchestrated a trade out of Columbus and back to the Avalanche, even though the Blue Jackets were just five points out of the playoffs, bidding for their first-ever postseason berth. Behind the scenes, Foote and the Avalanche had conspired to get this deal done. A box full of equipment with his name and number was shipped to Calgary a week ahead of the deadline. That\u2019s where the Avs played the night of the trade deadline. Fans in Nationwide Arena felt betrayed by their captain, and they let him know every time he returned to town, both as a player and as a coach. \u2014 Aaron Portzline<\/p>\n
Dallas Stars<\/p>\n
Bryan Marchment<\/p>\n
Stars fans of an older vintage will tell you Dallas would have won the 1998 Stanley Cup had Marchment not blown out Joe Nieuwendyk\u2019s knee with a borderline hit in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs against the Sharks (the Stars went on to lose in the Western Conference final). Earlier in the same season, Marchment \u2014 then with the Oilers \u2014\u00a0injured Mike Modano\u2019s knee with another hit many felt was dirty. Corey Perry might have taken this crown had he not done one of the all-time face turns in his one season with the Stars, helping them reach the bubble Stanley Cup Final. \u2014 Mark Lazerus<\/p>\n
Detroit Red Wings<\/p>\n
Patrick Roy<\/p>\n
You can argue the Red Wings were as much a villain for Roy as vice versa, helping to chase him out of Montreal and right into the era-defining rivalry between Detroit and the Avalanche. Roy became one of the central figures of that rivalry, though, partaking in two high-profile goalie fights \u2014 first with Mike Vernon, then Chris Osgood \u2014 and, of course, leading Colorado to the Stanley Cup in 1996 after knocking out the Red Wings, and again in 2001 (though the Avalanche didn\u2019t face Detroit in the postseason). His swagger and Hall of Fame pedigree are a bonus to make him an iconic on-ice enemy. \u2014 Max Bultman<\/p>\n
Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n
Robyn Regehr<\/p>\n
Regehr took special delight in flattening Oilers winger Ales Hemsky. Unlike the 1980s, when both the Oilers and Flames had their share of agitators and enforcers, Regehr was allowed to run Hemsky unchecked during the years they played against each other. Regehr was relentless and merciless, and Oilers fans had to witness it over and over again. \u2014 Allan Mitchell <\/p>\n
Florida Panthers<\/p>\n
Nikita Kucherov<\/p>\n
You could probably pick any of the Lightning\u2019s stars given how this rivalry has heated up in recent years. Kucherov\u2019s 51 points in 42 career regular-season games and agitating awesomeness against Florida have him at the top of the list. \u2014 James Mirtle<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Kings<\/p>\n
Corey Perry<\/p>\n
Perry was the Kings\u2019 incessant pest of a SoCal neighbor that you loathe. Players would get their pound of flesh, and Perry just kept coming back for more whether four times a season or eight. The slashes and jabs. The accidental-on-purpose falls over goalies. Even the squirt of a water bottle into a glove. The hate lessened some after he left Anaheim, but some Kings fans still may never truly get behind someone who is set to play for L.A. for the second time in his career next season. \u2014 Eric Stephens<\/p>\n
\n Jamie Benn is always in the middle of everything against the Wild. (Jerome Miron \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n Jamie Benn<\/p>\n It\u2019s been too long since the Canucks\u2019 Todd Bertuzzi told Wild fans not to bother buying tickets to Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals in 2003, so we\u2019ll go with Benn. He always draws the ire of Wild fans, whether it\u2019s for dives, pitchforking players in the groin or dirty shots like cross-checks to the heads of Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman in the most recent playoffs. Every time the teams play, he\u2019s in the middle of everything. \u2014 Michael Russo<\/p>\n Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n Cam Neely<\/p>\n In 1943, the Bruins beat the Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs. The Bruins would lose their next 18 playoff series against the Canadiens, six in the Stanley Cup Final. Neely almost single-handedly changed that. From 1987 to 1991, the Bruins faced the Canadiens in the playoffs each year and won three of those meetings: in 1988, 1990 and 1991. In those 26 games over five playoff series, Neely scored an astounding 20 goals, and did it in the nastiest way. The Canadiens had no answer for him. Considering the deep-rooted hatred that defined the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry, Neely was the ultimate villain. He could beat you on the scoreboard, and he could beat you up. \u2014 Arpon Basu<\/p>\n Nashville Predators<\/p>\n Corey Perry<\/p>\n The Ryan Kesler feud with former Predators center Ryan Johansen \u2014 which peaked during Nashville\u2019s 2017 Stanley Cup Final run \u2014 is pure villainy. But Perry was an equally hated part of that Ducks team. And Preds fans have hated him at every stop since. It just keeps going. \u2014 Joseph Rexrode<\/p>\n New Jersey Devils<\/p>\n Sean Avery<\/p>\n Avery racked up 1,533 penalty minutes in 580 career regular-season games, so he got under plenty of people\u2019s skin in his career \u2014 including the Devils. The NHL had to change a rule because of Avery\u2019s actions against Martin Brodeur and New Jersey in the 2008 playoffs. He faced Brodeur to screen him and waved his stick to block the goalie\u2019s vision. The league outlawed that technique between games, and Brodeur didn\u2019t shake Avery\u2019s hand after the series. \u2014 Peter Baugh<\/p>\n New York Islanders<\/p>\n Dale Hunter<\/p>\n From more recent history, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are easy targets. Even Yanni Gourde fits here after scoring the series-clinching conference final goal against the Islanders in 2021. But if we go further back in time, Hunter probably takes the cake as the biggest rival in history for a dirty hit on Pierre Turgeon during a goal celebration in a 1993 playoff series against the Capitals. \u2014 Shayna Goldman<\/p>\n New York Rangers<\/p>\n Tom Wilson<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n