NHL Playoffs: 5 Matchups We'd Love to See

Is there a more exciting time than the Stanley Cup Playoffs? 

Teams work day in and day out, go through "Herbies" and injuries, pushing themselves to the limits just to be in the top 8 in the Conference and make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Teams push the reset button and do it all over again to one day hopefully drink from Lord Stanley's Cup.

Playoffs have caused intense bad blood between teams. Don't believe me? Check out the Boston/Vancouver game this season after one of the most physical and intense Stanley Cup Finals. Look back into the archives at St. Louis/Chicago, who faced each other 10 times in the playoffs, many of which had a brawl ensue. But ask any hockey fan, chippy games are the best games. 

Rivalries are ignited and renewed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. These are five matchups fans would love to see so rivalries can bring out the best in the players.

The St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild are not particularly known for having a rivalry between each other. But if you watch a single game between the two, you will realize these two teams hate each other. 

Take for example, the game between the two teams on Jan. 14, 2012. The two teams met in St. Louis for what should have been a calm game between the two. That is, until Minnesota's Justin Falk laid out David Perron of St. Louis within the first minute of the game. 

Blues captain David Backes came in to protect his teammate and dropped his gloves with Falk. Backes received a five minute major, 10 minute misconduct, instigator penalty and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, accumulating 19 minutes. Backes didn't touch the ice until the second period. The game featured four more fighting majors and a total of 52 hits. 

Seeing these teams going after each other for seven games would be a bloodbath. Fans would constantly be on their feet, and energy players like Cal Clutterbuck and Backes would be in the spotlight. Combine that with finesse players like Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi and T.J. Oshie, and stellar goaltending by Brian Elliot, Jaroslav Halak and Josh Harding, and it could create a rivalry that would last for decades.

Nothing is better than having your cross-state rival in the same division as you. Even better is playing them in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

This year has seen a bit more hype for the Pens/Flyers rivalry with the Flyers signing longtime Penguin fan-favorite Jaromir Jagr. Penguin fans thought that he was a lock and would be playing alongside Crosby, a tandem fans would be dreaming of and nostalgic for any glimpse of the Lemieux/Jagr pairing that ruled the end of his Pittsburgh career. However, Jagr had other ideas.

Jagr signed with the Flyers, and is now Public Enemy No. 1 in Pittsburgh. Maxime Talbot is not very far behind. Talbot bailed on Pittsburgh to sign with the Flyers, hoping to win another title with the Flyers. 

This series would split Pennsylvania in two. The blood would boil higher than the temperatures in Florida. And the big names would be huge for the NHL to market. Malkin versus Giroux. Bryzgalov versus Fleury. Staal versus Briere. It would be a prime-time fight between two Atlantic teams that absolutely hate each other. It would be extremely exciting hockey. 

This is a rivalry that is not very big right now; in fact, the majority of fans would call this a nonexistent rivalry. However, this could potentially turn into very big one.

There is one condition: Phoenix must move to Seattle. Icethetics, a website dedicated to information about the logos and other designing information, reported Chris Hansen is interested in building a new arena that could house an NHL and NBA arena. 

If the Coyotes would move, the team would have a natural rivalry with Vancouver. The closeness of the two cities would cause each team to hate each other. Vancouver, besides Chicago, has no real rival. The NHL would be smart to move the team to Seattle if it has the opportunity.

Vancouver would probably win this series without much of a problem. But if bad blood were to arise, it could ignite a rivalry that could define the Northwest. 

This is another rivalry that is in its early stages and will probably most likely not last after re-alignment, whenever that may be. However, do not be fooled. These two teams would put on a show.

Florida has not been relevant in the NHL since it went on a Cinderella run to the 1996 Playoffs. The team defied odds, and upset the top two teams in the conference to reach the Finals. This year, the team has been at or near the top of the division all season, and Winnipeg has been right behind them despite the heavy amount of travel.

Winnipeg is the newest* franchise in the NHL, after Atlanta relocated to the Canadian city in the summer. Fans have been flocking to the stadium since season tickets sold out in just 17 minutes. Having playoffs in the hockey-crazed city in the first season back would be huge for the franchise. 

Winnipeg is the perfect example for what a team can do when it has support. The atmosphere in MTS Centre would be second to none, and a playoff appearance could be exactly what Florida needs to stay in Miami for years to come. 

This would be the Holy Grail matchup to see who could win the Holy Grail.

Detroit has again proved the haters wrong by putting together a 23 home win streak, and there is no end in sight. The Red Wings use their veteran experience to play extremely smart hockey, while Howard and surprise star goaltender Joey MacDonald have kept the puck out of the net. Lidstrom is still patrolling the blue line and is captaining the team to what could be his last legitimate Stanley Cup run.

The Blueshirts, however, are primed to show the NHL that they are back in the NHL's elite. Henrik Lundqvist is putting up an extremely impressive resume to be the front-runner for the Vezina, while Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik and Ryan Callahan leading the team in scoring.

The Rangers have been at the top of the NHL for the last few months with Detroit breathing right down their neck. Seeing the top two teams in each conference in the Stanley Cup finals, especially with the following that these Original Six teams have, would make for an electrifying Final.