Heated rivalries are not unique to the world of hockey, but it’s hard to find a sport where they are more intense. On the ice, a rivalry is more than just the competitive nature between teams — it involved feelings bordering on hatred.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have many rivalries amongst the other teams in their Metropolitan division. The best-known Pens rivalries are with the Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, and the Boston Bruins.

The rivalry between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals has only increased its intensity since the beginning of the feud. The tension between the two teams started in the 1980s, and it caused the teams to get into 159 fights on the ice. The teams have met 11 times in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

The captains of both teams, Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Alex Ovechkin (Washington), are two of the top talents in the NHL. The skill of both captains only ignites the rivalry between the two teams. The cities of Pittsburgh and Washington D.C. are close enough that fans can attend the rival games. The hatred is pure in this hockey rivalry due to the unrelenting tension in the Metropolitan Division. 

The Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins have had an intense rivalry throughout the much of the history of the NHL. The reason for the rivalry can be connected to the fact that both teams are located Pennsylvania. 

The Penguins have gotten into more fights with the Flyers than any other team in the NHL — 230 fights to be exact. The Philadelphia Flyers tend to win more games on average, but the Pittsburgh Penguins have won three more Stanley Cups. The Pens and Flyers have been, and likely always will be, highly competitive with each other.

A team that has a rivalry with the Penguins that goes beyond competing on the ice is the Boston Bruins. The teams are both in the Metropolitan Division of the NHL, but the tension stems from more than just that. The Penguins’ former jerseys used to be a light blue and dark blue up until 1980, when Penguins executives decided to change the jersey color to align with the theme of black and yellow for the city’s other sports teams, the Steelers and the Pirates. 

As the Bruins already wore black and gold, the Bruins organization protested the idea, claiming that Pittsburgh copied their team’s colors. The change of color jersey fueled the start the rivalry between the two teams.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have more rivalries than just the Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, and the Boston Bruins, but these three teams are arguably the most hated by Pens fans., who are annually energized by the tension, giving hockeys fans not only here in Pittsburgh but around the world of hockey great entertainment.