Are the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild Destined to be Rivals?

No. Well, not at the moment at least. They do have a lot going for them though as potential rivals.

> The two teams are both in the Central Division in the Western Conference. ✅

> There are around 400 miles only between the two cities. So ✅ for proximity.

> Recent playoff history does exist as mentioned prior, however it was one -sided. ❌

Looking into the rosters however, both teams have good prospect pools (the Athletic - www.theathletic.com - recently rated them the 7th (Hawks) and 11th (Wild) best groups in hockey for 2024. Riley Heidt, Danila Yurov, Liam Ohgren, and Jesper Wallstedt amongst many for the Wild versus the likes of Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel, Ryan Greene, and Drew Commesso amongst many for the Blackhawks.

More to the point though and what spurred this article on is the seemingly growing online fan rivarly that is brewing between Wild and Hawks' fans. The topic: which rookie is better Connor Bedard or Brock Faber? Not going into specifics, you can go to any social media platform and find one of 100s of such debates / arguments, however the answer(s) very clearly seems to Blackhawk Up to be this:

1. They are both really good.

2. Both franchises are blessed to have them.

3. They can't be compared becuase of their positions (center and defenseman)

4. The teams rosters are so different at the moment, it's difficult to gauge true value when collating their stats and overall play.

5. Lastly, they are both worthy of winning a Calder Trophy and being acknowledged as the best rookie in any given year.

Will that happen (co-Calder winners)? Perhaps, but at the moment Connor Bedard has done more with less to win the award. All the metrics, deep number crunchers aside.... Connor Bedard has come back from injury and on one of the worst rosters in sports been 1pt under a ppg player as an 18 year old. Does a 3 year older defenseman skating big minutes, producing points, and helping a team fight for a playoff spot deserve heavy praise and recognition? Absolutely! That doesn't mean he is the best rookie in the league at the moment though.

This battle isn't wrapped up, the debate isn't finished. There are still games yet to be played, stats to finalize, and playoff positions yet to be won. Things can change (hopefully some more spirited debates instead of ugly arguements as well) and the narrative can pivot... we (Blackhawk Up) will cheer on to the days ahead in which the Bedard vs Faber, Chicago vs Minnesota future matchups will hopefully involve heated playoff series and instant classic winners.

The league took away Detroit from Chicago and the Blues at the moment are trending downwards, could the Minnesota Wild and the Chicago Blackhawks be on the verge of a long term rivarly?