A Vegas-Arizona rivalry is coming, eventually
Technically, the Arizona Coyotes aren't the closest team to the Vegas Golden Knights. They're not even the second-closest. Those teams would be the Anaheim Ducks, 259 miles away, and the Los Angeles Kings, 268 miles away. The Coyotes' arena is 281 miles away, in Glendale.
The Kings and Ducks, though, have each other as local rivals, and while every division rivalry is intense and important, there's something extra in the mix when geography comes into play.
The Coyotes have had that, to an extent, with the Kings and Ducks, but outside of the 2012 Western Conference Final, it hasn't always been a case of mutual antipathy, with the Coyotes ranking in distaste not only behind the L.A. area teams, but also the San Jose Sharks, as part of the California triumvirate.
"We had tough games against L.A., and that's the type of games that you want to play and be a part of," said Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, a four-time All-Star in his eighth season with the Coyotes. "I hope that we can get to that point with Vegas and I think we will, moving forward."
The early signs are promising. After their inaugural game in Dallas, the Golden Knights went to Glendale and beat the Coyotes 2-1 in overtime, then topped Arizona again, 5-2, in the first game in Las Vegas three days later.
"The first game against them, it really did kind of build a little something right away, and that's good," said Coyotes center Derek Stepan. "That's what makes fun hockey, is when you can get a rival that's so close to you. We can call it the Desert Battle or whatever you want to call it, and I think it's going to be good for many years to come.
"I think that's what makes our sport so great, is when you have an opponent you can really go against and really butt heads. That's what's fun about our game."
In a season that has begun with very little in the way of fun for the winless Coyotes, writing the first chapter of a rivalry may be the highlight. While Las Vegas may be just a few miles closer to Anaheim and Los Angeles, the point Stepan makes about them being the two desert teams is spot-on. That's what ties the Coyotes and Golden Knights together.
It is, however, going to take time. It does for all the best rivalries.
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
"Rivalries, they grow," said Arizona enforcer/irritant Zac Rinaldo, who missed those first two Coyotes-Golden Knights games while serving a five-game suspension, but could help grow the rivalry through the sheer force of his Zac Rinaldoness.
"They can't just be put in motion. Both teams have to grow that rivalry. It can't just be named a rivalry when you haven't played each other. Like Pittsburgh, when I was with Philly, you have to hate these guys. It's different because Vegas just came into the league. That rivalry has to grow, and it will grow. But it has to come natural."
The next step on the path to the "Desert Battle" becoming special is Nov. 25 in Glendale. It's a long way to go before reaching Bruins-Canadiens territory, or even Ducks-Kings, but Vegas' entry to the NHL gives the Coyotes a chance at something they've never had.
"It's good to have some extra energy before those kinds of games, but it's so new, we haven't really built a rivalry yet, I think," Ekman-Larsson said. "At the same time, give it a couple more years."
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