Toews sees rivalry with Canucks as ‘bigger’ than Detroit

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The way Jonathan Toews sees it, the Canucks are well on their way to surpassing the Red Wings as the Blackhawks’ biggest rival.

That’s what happens after three straight meetings in the playoffs and a few regular season games that have fueled hard feelings, insults and on-ice nastiness.

“I’ve said this before, I’m sure our Detroit rivalry goes back a long time, but for the players in this locker room, this is something that is bigger to us because it’s more immediate,” Toews said on Thursday. “You talk to former players and maybe they argue the Red Wings rivalry is bigger, but for us the history we have with this team, it gets personal because it’s between certain guys. Either team doesn’t like to lose to the other.”

The Hawks-Detroit rivalry is tame compared to what’s happened the last three seasons with the Canucks.

You’ve had Alex Burrows pull Duncan Keith’s hair in a brawl, Willie Mitchell give Toews a concussion with a blindside hit, Ryan Kesler call Andrew Ladd a coward, Adam Burish refer to Henrik and Daniel Sedin as the Sedin sisters — and that’s beside 17 playoff games.

“The rivalry here is big,” Dave Bolland said. “It’s great for the league, great for the fans, just great for hockey.

“It’s two teams that basically just hate each other every time they play and it’s good to see for fans all around the league.”

The feeling is mutual with the Canucks. It was before this series that Kevin Bieksa said while the Hawks have 10 new faces on the roster this season, anytime he sees that jersey it brings out the hate no matter who is wearing it.

“I’m sure the fans like the rivalry with the Wings a little more, but as far as the players in here, Vancouver is right up there,” Patrick Kane said. “It’s been fun the last couple years. It’s a team you always want to beat.

“When you play in the playoffs as much as we have, rivalries are always going to start. You always want to play a team you get up to play against. Off the ice it’s probably different, but on the ice there’s definitely some players and even that uniform you don’t like to see and you don’t want them to beat you.”

The Hawks and Red Wings have a rivalry that dates back to their Original Six days, but the two teams have only met twice in the playoffs since 1992, most recently in the 2009 Western Conference finals.