Christmas may be new Thanksgiving as NHL playoff barometer

By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Hockey Writer

The adage in the NHL used to be that teams wanted to be in playoff position by U.S. Thanksgiving. More than 76% of teams in that position have made the playoffs since the start of the salary cap era in 2005-06. But it may be too early this year to use Thanksgiving as a barometer for a host of reasons. The season started later, many contenders are still trying to find their footing amid injuries and having 32 teams makes it inherently harder to qualify. The Christmas break might be a better time to judge which teams will be playing for the Stanley Cup come April.