Page 16 - aruba-today-20221208
P. 16
A16 SPORTS
Thursday 8 december 2022
Christmas may be new Thanksgiving as NHL playoff barometer
By STEPHEN WHYNO ing for the Stanley Cup
AP Hockey Writer beginning in April. “This
For the better part of two is the year where I don’t
decades since the NHL in- know if it’s going to corre-
stituted a salary cap, en- late I think there might be
joying turkey, stuffing and a little bit of a wrench in
mashed potatoes were that,” longtime player and
synonymous with feeling coach Rick Tocchet said.
pretty good about making “This is a little goofy season.
the playoffs. I don’t think you can have
Dating to 2005-06, with that barometer. I think
lockout- and pandemic- you have to wait a little
related seasons excepted, bit longer.” Already in the
76% of teams in a playoff week since Thanksgiving,
spot by the U.S. Thanks- the top eight teams in the
giving holiday wound up Western Conference have
qualifying. It became such changed out, with Calgary
a popular narrative it be- and St. Louis for Edmonton
gan to seep into coaches’ and Minnesota. While New
offices and locker rooms In this photo shot with a wide angle lens, Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz looks Jersey is starting to look
based on the odds alone. back to see the puck on the goal line but the play was ruled no goal as the goal had come off like the real deal, Detroit
Maybe not this year. its moorings before the puck crossed the line during the second period of an NHL hockey game remains a bit surprisingly in
Thanks to the season start- against the Boston Bruins Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, in Boston. Associated Press a playoff spot in the East
ing later than normal, with Washington, Florida
many contenders still trying ous injuries and expansion inherently harder to make break may be a better for and others on the outside
to find a groove amid vari- to 32 teams also makes it the playoffs. The Christmas barometer for who’s play- looking in.
Capitals coach Peter
Laviolette acknowledged
the history of teams riding
a good Thanksgiving spot
into the playoffs. But, he
points out, “I know teams
have made it to the play-
offs and played for Cups
from behind the line.”
He did it with Philadelphia
in 2009-10, inheriting the
22nd-place team in the
league in December and
taking it to the final. But the
reality is that’s more the ex-
ception than the rule.
Coach Jared Bednar’s
theory is to stay in the mix
and keep pushing until re-
inforcements arrive, and
he knows other teams are
going through similar strug-
gles and transitions; there
were 10 new coaches on
the bench as the season
began. That’s why he thinks
the first 15 or so games of
the season is not enough
to start making judgments.
“Some teams have a lot of
new players, new coaches
all around the league,”
Bednar said. “It takes some
time to get dialed in ex-
actly the way you want
to go, so I think this year
with all the movement
through the league now
last couple years — lots of
coaches moving — I think
it can take time for teams
to find their footing.” Toc-
chet, now a Turner Sports
analyst, also points to the
number of comebacks as
a reason for uncertainty.q
