.
"No doubt it's the Penguins,"
Elijah Urbanek added
. "I am excited and at the same time dread when the Penguins come to NWA. Lots of heat no matter what is going on."
Even Nick Foligno admits this one has a little bit extra to it, and that was when the question was posed before Friday night's game that featured plenty of snarl.
"I think so," he said pregame. "I think just the history we've had with them. I think we just play each other hard. Whenever you play a team so many times and through the playoffs, there's some history with them. I've faced them four times in the postseason, so I'm sick of this team."
Foligno added that last line with a smile and a laugh, but he went on to acknowledge there's also the fact the Penguins have provided a standard for the Blue Jackets to try to reach with Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and '17.
Yet, of course, there's some arguments against the Blue Jackets/Penguins battle being considered a true rivalry.
There are those who say for it to be a true rivalry, Columbus has to win more, and there's an element of truth to that -- Pittsburgh did win those playoff series we mentioned, as well as those recent Cups. It's a newer rivalry, too, not a historic one, as the teams played only 14 times in the first 12 years of the CBJ franchise. And there are many in Pittsburgh who will be quick to remind that the Pens' only true rival wears orange and black and resides on the other side of the Keystone State.
In fact, when it comes to teams the Blue Jackets have played the most, Detroit sat at the top entering the season with 92 games between the franchises. Between the geographic proximity and the constant battles, the Red Wings were the Jackets' initial main rival from their days in the Western Conference. (Ohio and Michigan tend to have their own beefs when it comes to sports, you may have noticed.)
"Years ago, I would have said Detroit, but with them being in the other division, I think Pittsburgh is becoming the CBJ's biggest rival,"