Bigger enemy: Kings or Ducks?

Colin Becht
CSNBayArea.com

Its wellestablished that Bay Area fans hate LosAngeles teams. For a Giants fan or a Stanford fan tohate to Dodgers or USC is second nature. Its what were taughtsince birth.Hockeysdifferent. With two Southern California teams inthe Sharks division, it begs the question: Who do Sharks fans hate more?In case youreon the fence, weve compiled a bit of Bay Area hockey history as itapplies to the Southland:Why you hate theDucksAnaheimhas historically been the better of San Josestwo L.A. foes,which typically makes a team easier to detest. Add the fact that the Duckseliminated the Sharks from the playoffs in the 2008-09 season and youvegot all the enmity you need for even the biggest Mighty Ducks movie seriesenthusiast. Memories of Jonas Hiller stonewalling the Sharks and ruining aPresidents Trophy season still haunt supporters of the teal. Meanwhilethe Sharks won their only playoff interaction with the Kings.Why you hate theKingsFor starters, theyjust won a Stanley Cup, and no team is easier to hate than the currentchampions. Between the bandwagon fans who just learned they had a hockey teamthis May and the sheer ridiculousness of a Stanley Cup-champion team winning less thanhalf of its regular-season games, what more do you need? Plus, the Kingswinning a title makes the Sharks the only California hockey team without a Cup. DarrylSutters multiple failures to bring a championship to San Jose despitevastly more talented teams than this years Kings makes it all the moredifficult to stomach Los Angeles Cup.
Colin Becht is an intern with CSNBayArea.com and a senior at Northwestern University