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NBC Sports Network going big with NHL rivalries next season

Montreal Canadiens v Boston Bruins

of the Boston Bruins of the Montreal Canadiens on February 9, 2011 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Elsa

The NBC Sports Network will exclusively showcase some of the fiercest and historic rivalries in the National Hockey League this upcoming season.

NBC Sports Group announced Friday that the network will carry 24 games throughout the 2013-14 campaign as part of its exclusive Wednesday Night Rivalry coverage, which returns for a second consecutive season.

The Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings have the honor of beginning the weekly rivalry night, as they battle on Oct. 2.

Perhaps the most talked about rivalry game in the opening month of the season will be between the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 30.

That night will mark the return of Jarome Iginla to Pittsburgh, where he was traded in a blockbuster deal prior to the April deadline this past season.

Iginla, of course, signed with the Bruins - the team he declined a trade to before approving the move to Pittsburgh - as an unrestricted free agent.

Oh, the intrigue.

The rivalry night coverage will also feature one team from north of the border - the Montreal Canadiens will host the Bruins on March 12.

Of all the rivalries in the NHL, the Canadiens and Bruins might have the most longstanding contempt for each other, dating well back to the Original Six era.