I think the Pond/Honda center is as good as it gets to watch a game... Ill give the Ducks that much...
I personally don't like the Ponda Center. The upper levels are too steep and the jumbotron is severely outdated and too small.
As far as the "rivalry", I think Ducks fans consider it much more of a rivalry than Kings fans. As a fan base, Phoenix has surpassed the Ducks in terms of our hatred just by sheer virtue of playing them in the playoffs. Until Anaheim plays the Kings in the playoffs, I don't think the rivalry will have much credence.
We have much more of a rivalry against Vancouver, San Jose, and Detroit. If you really go back a ways, even our old rivalry against Toronto cuts way deeper than any animosity towards the Ducks.
Ducks fans really try to stir up the rivalry talk in a similar fashion to the way Boston College considers themselves a huge rival of ND. It is much more important to them. I live in Orange County and Ducks fans can just be sort of annoying. Plus, most of them are former Kings fans that say they still root for the Kings as long as they aren't playing the Ducks and I just can't get with that.
Kings fans are Kings fans through and through. Ducks fans are very fickle and can be very ambivalent with their team. The only thing they are holding on to now is the fact that they won their Cup first. I get it from their perspective, but I know there are a ton of Kings fans that get so much more fired up for a lot of other teams than they do for the Ducks.
Don't get me wrong, I hate the Ducks. But teams like Vancouver and San Jose get my blood boiling much faster than the Ducks or their fans. If we ever get the chance to meet Anaheim in the playoffs, that may change quickly, but for now it is what it is.