Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire. “
We’ve talked about this before, but here’s the 2019 update & version.
The thesis is that 80 %, maybe more, of the NHL teams that are in a playoff position as of U.S. Thanksgiving will be in the playoffs come April.
Going back to November of 2018, on US Thanksgiving Monday the 8 teams that had playoff spots in the East were;
Tampa Bay
Buffalo
The Leafs
Washington
Columbus
The Islanders
Boston
& Montreal
Six of the 8 made the post season, and Montreal would have made it 7 of 8 had the Canadiens garnered 3 more points over the final 4 & 1/2 months of the season.
Carolina came in from the outside, as did Pittsburgh to join Tampa Bay, the Leafs, Washington, Columbus, the Islanders and Boston.
In the West on the Monday after US Thanksgiving, these 8 were in;
Nashville,
Minnesota
Colorado
Calgary,
San Jose
Vegas
Winnipeg
Dallas.
Over the next 4 months, St Louis surged to a playoff position, while Minnesota tumbled out in a big way.
That’s it ! Seven of 8 in November Nashville, Colorado, Calgary, San Jose, Vegas, Winnipeg & Dallas are still in Stanley Cup contention from the West
Overall, that’s 13 of 16, 81 %, amazingly accurate based on the US Thanksgiving-NHL Post Season Theory
I’m Fred Wallace