The St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks just might be the best two teams in the Central Division, if not the Western Conference. Tonight, the two teams rekindle their rivalry, which took on an added level of intensity with the Blues' resurgence last season.

When a television reporter was asking about the rivalry, he talked about how it was an intense rivalry, but how "nothing bad" tends to happen. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock disagreed.

"I don't know about nothing bad -- we usually get our ass kicked in this building, so I do't know about that," he said.

Indeed, the Hawks have won seven straight home games against the Blues, dating back to the 2009-10 season. Last year, the Hawks won all three meetings at the United Center, including two in shootouts. The year before that, they Hawks also won all three, including two in overtime. Games like that just feed into the longstanding rivalry.

"I just think it goes back to the old Norris [Division] and I think that was unbelievable hockey -- Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota," Hitchcock said. "Some of that hockey was incredible. I think it goes back and you build a reputation of going at each other hard. You see some of the best series being with those teams involved in it."

Playing at the United Center only makes it more intense, Hitchcock said.

"Probably in the Western Conference, this is THE building to come and play in," he said. "This is kind of the 'it' city to come and play in. I think everybody gets excited to come and play here."