Connect with us

Detroit Red Wings

Thanksgiving Playoff Curse? Red Wings Push Back

75% of teams in playoff spots on Thanksgiving are still there at the end of the regular season

Published

on

Moritz Seider, Red Wings
Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider isn't at all concerned about the NHL's Thanksgiving playoff analytic.

Among the Thanksgiving traditions, this is one the Detroit Red Wings are choosing not to celebrate.



Even with their two-game win streak, the Red Wings are sitting two points shy of a playoff spot as people are gathering around the family table for their festive feast of turkey.

There’s a long-held NHL axiom that teams in the playoffs on Thanksgiving Day will also be in a postseason position in April as the NHL regular season is coming to a conclusion.

Is there anything to this theory?

Well, according to research compiled by the New York Times, in the salary cap era (since 2005-06), 75% of teams in a playoff spot on Thanksgiving have gone on to play in the playoffs.

“I mean, yeah, you hear it all the time, but I think it’s not what I really pay attention to,” Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider said.

Maybe there’s justification in this non-belief from the Red Wings players. All they need to do is consider last season while making that assessment.

At the end of the 2023-24 NHL season, 13 teams that were in the playoffs on Thanksgiving were still there. The three that weren’t? The St. Louis Blues, the Seattle Kraken and . . . the Red Wings.

“Yeah, I mean, you look at the standings and you just don’t want to be too far behind at this time of the year,” was how Detroit captain Dylan Larkin was assessing the Thanksgiving scenario.

“I don’t think there’s much to if you’re in first place right now, you’re going to finish first place. They’re not handing out trophies at U.S. Thanksgiving. So it’s a good mile marker.”

Red Wings Focus On Where They’re Going

To the Red Wings players, what matters right now is where they’re heading. Not where they currently are.

“Twenty games in and our division’s clumped up,” Larkin said. “We’re right there. We just need to get on a run and we’ll be back in the place we want to be.”

Their focus is on controlling what they can control going forward.

“It’s about what’s happening in this locker room,” Seider said. “We want to get a little bit on a roll here. We have a couple games this week, so hopefully we can do a little bit of catch up.”

At 10-102, the Red Wings are showing the record at home (5-5-1) and on the road (5-5-1). Overall, they are also 5-5-1 through their past 11 games.

“I honestly think we’re playing better defensively,” Seider said. “We’re not giving up a lot of dangerous chances and we found a way to at least create a little bit more shots, especially from up top.

“There’s a little more presence at the net, and hopefully we kind of detailed our penalty kill in a little bit. Now it’s just about taking everything as a pack and try to move on here.”