Ryan Kesler reveals the NHL player who hated him the most.

Hockey is a sport that is all about camaraderie and brotherhood, but on the other side of that coin it can also be a sport that brings out genuine hatred on the ice between bitter rivals.

It isn't something that you see every day or in every game, but every once in a while a rivalry comes along that is simply undeniable. Whether it be between a pair of players or a pair of teams, things can get nasty on the ice and this next example definitely falls into that category.

Players from the National Hockey League are typically much more willing to open up about their playing careers once they've already hung up their skates and moved on from playing at the professional level, and that was exactly the case with former NHL forward Ryan Kesler.

Kesler, who played over 1000 games in the NHL split between the Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks, was asked about his rivalry with beloved former NHL forward Jarome Iginla during a podcast appearance. Kesler didn't hold back when asked about an infamous fight he had against Iginla, revealing that the animosity fans witnessed unfolding before their eyes on the ice was very real.

"Jarome f***ing hated me man," said Kesler. "Oh my god."

He revealed that Iginla's hatred for Kesler was so genuine that he even tried to throw down during preseason games.

"That guy, pre-season, he was like 'Alright we're doing this' and i go 'Buddy it's preseason relax,'" said Kesler with a laugh.

Although Kesler can laugh about the rivalry all these years later, there's no denying that the hatred was genuine. During a fight between the two men, while Iginla was playing for the Boston Bruins and Kesler was with the Canucks, Iginla wanted to get at Kesler so bad that he destroyed his own hand smashing his fist into Kesler's helmet.

As you'll see in the video below, Iginla's finger was badly mangled in this fight:

Now don't go thinking that this was all on Iginla however because Kesler would admit that he had played his own role in fueling the rivalry.

"Oh I talked so much s***," admitted Kesler.

Kesler even admits that he would choose his moments carefully, usually reserving his verbal jabs for Iginla for when the game was already out of reach.

"I was gutless," admitted Kesler with another laugh.

You can see Kesler discuss the rivalry with fellow former NHLers Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney in the short clip below: