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Freeway Faceoff? 
Give Me A Break.
The Reed Report By Jason Reed

NOVEMBER 17, 2007  -- From the first time I heard about this I knew that it was going to be a bad idea. I was watching the Kings and Ducks open the season across the un-frozen pond (in London) when I saw the commercial. It begged us all to come up with a name for the rivalry between the Kings and Ducks. Rivalry? What rivalry? In order for there to be a rivalry fans need to be given a reason to care about the teams playing each other. The name that was chosen as the winner? THE FREEWAY FACE OFF.

Other than physical proximity, what is it that makes this an interesting rivalry? Have the teams ever met in the playoffs? Nope. In fact, the Kings and Ducks have never been in the playoffs in the same season, much less played each other. Have there been games that leave you saying, "Wow, I can't wait for the next time these two teams play?" Not really. There is nothing about these two teams playing that truly constitutes a rivalry. I understand the marketing department for both teams and for Prime Ticket and FSN West trying to build one up and promote one, but there isn't one. Not yet anyway.

When I think of a rivalry I think of New Jersey and The Rangers in the mid-and-late-90's. These two teams are close in proximity, plus they were always fighting with each other for playoff spots and often faced other in the post-season. You want a rivalry moment? Mark Messier's "guarantee" in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Devils. That was a rivalry moment. In the mid-to late 90's if the Rangers and Devils were playing, everyone in North America knew that it would be a good, physical game between two teams that hated to lose to the other.

Go a little more old school and you have Toronto and Montreal--two of the Original Six in the NHL. From 1944-1978 these teams met 12 times in the playoffs, including five times for the Stanley Cup. Look at the list of Stanley Cup winners from the 1960's and you will see that either the Canadiens or the Maple Leafs captured the cup every year during that decade.

One of the most famous recent rivalries is of the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings. If you look back you will see that there actually was a bit of bad blood between Detroit and the Quebec Nordiques (who packed up and moved to Denver, becoming the Avalanche). Where it REALLY turned into a full-blown rivalry was during the 1996 Western Conference Finals when Colorado's Claude Lemieux just laid out Kris Draper of Detroit. How bad was Draper hurt? He suffered a broken jaw, broken nose, shattered cheek and orbital bone. Draper's injuries were severe enough to require reconstructive surgery and his jaw was wired shut for five weeks.

The following year the teams met for what would come to be known as the Brawl in Hockeytown. Several players, including Ducks radio commentator Brent Sevryn, were involved in fights during the first period, once again sparking tension between the rivals. At the 18:22 mark, a brawl started when Igor Larianov and Peter Forsberg slammed into one another on the ice. Red Wings enforcer Darren McCarty broke free from the grasp of a linesman and Chased down Lemieux. Lemieux dropped down and turtled (covered his head with his arms) but McCarty continued to pummel the Avalanche player, landing several blows and driving his knee into Lemieux's head, before they were separated by officials. The fight ended with winners on both sides. Uwe Krupp got the better of Jamie Pushor, while Detroit goaltender Mike Vernon sent his Colorado counterpart, Patrick Roy the bench with a cut over his eye. Larianov sent Forsberg to the bench for the rest of the game by aggravating a previous injury, while the Brendan Shanahan vs. Adam Foote tilt ended in a draw, with both players remaining on their feet until the melee eventually died down. When all was said and done, the ice was stained with blood.

These are what rivalries are and what they should be. Do I hope that one day soon the Kings and Ducks have a true rivalry? Absolutely! These are the moments that make sports, and hockey in particular, so great. But if we're going to have a rivalry we need to come up with a better name, something a bit more colorful. These are just a couple that I came up with on the fly. Please send me your suggestions and please tell me which you like the best.

Taking My Honda To Staples

The Downtown Throwdown

Who's Your Daddy?

Actually now that I look at them, my ideas do kind of suck, so I guess that Freeway Face-Off isn't all that bad. I know that it would sound a lot better if there was a real rivalry behind it. The two teams meet again tonight in the first game after the unveiling of the name, so lets keep our fingers crossed and see if we can build us a good old fashioned hate-fest between these two squads.

One last suggestion for a name: Where's Your Cup?

JASON REED
Hockeytalk Columnist

The
Target Test
J.R.'S RINK RANTS:
Is hockey merch available in your home town?

November 18, 2007 -- LONG BEACH, CA -- Josh and I started yapping recently about how you go into places like Target and you find merchandise for local professional and college sports teams, but you never see any for hockey teams. Let me just say that this is not a Target bashing article. My family spends a lot of money there every year and we like them. This is just to prove that the NHL is, quite frankly, the red-headed stepchild when it comes to exposure and sales.