Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “.
As often is the case when Don Luther is in the building for his health & nutrition show, we had a quick sports chat which naturally included a few sentences pertaining to the Montreal Canadiens.
Don reminded me of a theory that is almost universally accepted in the National Hockey League.
The theory is the that 80 % of the time, the teams that hold a playoff spot in the NHL as of U.S, Thanksgiving, end up making the post season.
So Don & I checked.
In the West, it was St Louis, Winnipeg, Nashville, VEGAS !, the Kings, San Jose and Dallas.
The 8th spot was shared by Chicago & Calgary.
Edmonton, when we checked was 5 points out which doesn’t seem like a lot….but the theory says….
In the East, the top 8 were Tampa Bay, Columbus ?, THE LEAFS !!, Islanders Devils, Washington, Pittsburgh and the Rangers.
Outside of the top 8, sitting 3 points back of the Rangers were the Montreal Canadiens.
So if the U.S. Thanksgiving theory is right, 13 of the 16 teams in will stay in, and only 3 newcomers will displace those holding a playoff spot as of late November in the NHL.
For Don Luther…….I’m Fred Wallace