The Carolina Hurricanes are enjoying their best Thanksgiving This Decade

The Carolina Hurricanes are going into American Thanksgiving in a playoff spot for the first time since 2008. How has this season so far compare to their last decade of hockey?

The Carolina Hurricanes are eating their turkey and cranberry stuffing sitting in the first wildcard spot with a 15-9-1 record for 31 points after 25 games this season. That is a very good spot to sit in a division as competitive as the Metropolitan. While they do come off a recent loss to the New York Rangers, they have  a chance to make this a season to remember.

This Thanksgiving the Carolina Hurricanes are enjoying their food more than any Hurricanes team in the past. In fact the 31 points they are sitting on while stuffing their face with stuffing is the most in team history going into this holiday. The last time they came this close was during the 05-06 season where they were 14-6-1 with 29 points going into turkey day.

Now granted they got that for in four less games and would have beaten this years record considering they went 2-1-1 for five more points in their next four games that would have given them 34 points, but let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. If this team is only slightly worse off than the team that hoisted the Stanley Cup, I am taking that all day.

Outside of those two teams there are no other team in Hurricanes history that has had more than 27 points going into Thanksgiving, that is plenty to be thankful for. What if I told you it gets better? Of all the teams in Hurricanes History only four has had three shutouts going into turkey day. That includes this iteration of the Carolina Hurricanes this season.

The other three? The 1998-99 team, the 2000-01 team, and the 2005-2006 team. That’s right, when the Carolina Hurricanes have three shutouts before Thanksgiving history says that they have a 66% chance of making the Stanley Cup Finals and a 33% chance of being Stanley Cup Champions.  But this is all coincidental and not necessarily something that should be taken seriously.

That said, it doesn’t hurt to see the team on the ice today led by Jordan Staal and coached by Rod Brind’amour, both facts we should be very thankful for, do very well as we give thanks to all the other things we are thankful for. Like the fact that the team donated over a THOUSAND turkeys yesterday giving back to a community that loves them so very much:

Perhaps we can also be thankful for the attendance numbers rising back to post stanley cup numbers. Or we can be thankful for the fact that chances are we may be getting an outdoor game sooner rather than later. Most of all we should be thankful for how the culture in Carolina has changed tremendously and the players are playing with the wind at their backs.

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• Week Two Coverage Of College Hockey In NC
• Derek Stepan Ends His On Ice Career As A Hurricane
• The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
• Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes

The most important thing to remember this holiday season is that better times are coming and they are coming fast. The Carolina Hurricanes are playing their best hockey and even though they have hit their bumps and snags, they have come out the other side a much better team that can compete with the best of them. The playoffs cannot come soon enough.

If the theory that most teams sitting on playoff spots during American Thanksgiving is to be believed than the Carolina Hurricanes have an excellent chance to start a playoff steak to match the losing streak they set over the last decade. But let’s be careful, they weren’t sitting in a playoff spot last thanksgiving. So give thanks where it is due.

Question for CC Readers: What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?