American Thanksgiving stat suggests Canucks are likely playoff-bound
As people across the US celebrate Thanksgiving, fans of the Vancouver Canucks have a special reason to celebrate today. According to historical trends, the Canucks will likely be heading back to the playoffs for the first time since the COVID-19 bubble.
American Thanksgiving is a major milestone on the NHL calendar. From this point on, it’s very difficult for teams to make up ground in the playoff race and thus there is often little movement in the postseason picture.
Since the mid-2000s lockout, 76.7% of NHL teams that are in a playoff spot on American Thanksgiving end up making the postseason, according to a social media post by Sportsnet Stats yesterday.
Since the 2005-06 season, 76.7% of #NHL teams in a playoff spot on U.S. Thanksgiving go on to make the playoffs.
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 22, 2023
After 20 games, the Canucks are in second place in the Pacific Divison with 27 points. They’re already six points clear of the second wild-card spot. All of this heavy lifting has left them in a great position.
The Canucks are not only in a playoff spot, they’re near the top of the standings. They have built enough of a cushion that even if they were to falter in the coming months, they could still make the playoffs.
The average number of points needed to make the playoffs in the Western Conference over the last five standard seasons was 94.2. The Canucks have already banked 27 points, meaning that they need just 67 more across their final 62 games to reach 94 points. That’s a points percentage of .540. So far this year, the Canucks are cruising along with a .675 points percentage, leaving ample room to survive a potential drop-off in performance.
The Canucks have not appeared in the playoffs since 2020 when they played in a special bubble in Edmonton due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last playoff game in front of fans at Rogers Arena was in 2015 when the team lost to the Calgary Flames in the first round.
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