The Art of the Faceoff

The faceoff. It’s hockey’s version of the jump ball -- yet it can happen 70 times a game.

On the surface, it might appear as if a referee simply drops a puck and two players start whacking, but there is more to it -- much more.

“It’s a game within the game,” Thrashers center Marty Reasoner said.

There is technique. There is strategy. And there is even a little cheating.

“It’s hard to explain to someone who isn’t a centerman,” Rich Peverley said. “Even some of the wingers don’t know how it all works.”

Let’s try to offer a little insight into the Art of the Faceoff.

Technique

The location of a faceoff can determine a player’s stick position. That might include if the player is on his forehand or backhand. It also might determine what the player will try to do with the puck -- win it clean (usually drawing it back), tie up the opposition or, in some cases, lose on purpose.

*In the offensive zone, the general rule is to try to win the faceoff clean, drawing it back to a teammate. “In most cases, when you win a draw clean it’s tough for their defense to react in time, 70 percent of the time you’re going to get a decent shot toward the net,” Reasoner said. “In the offensive zone you take more chances and try to win the puck clean. In the defensive zone you want to be safer.”

*In the defensive zone, the centerman wants to prevent a scoring chance. That can include using strength to tie up the opposition.

“A lot of times when two guys are basically trying to do the same thing, the puck is going to sit there,” Reasoner said.

This gives the other players a chance to come in and take control of the puck.

“Never underestimate the role of the other wingers,” Todd White said.

*The side of the rink in which the faceoff is held matters greatly. It will determine if a player is on his backhand or forehand side. The backhand generally is considered a player’s strong hand in a faceoff.

“When I’m on my backhand, I try to win it clean back most of the time in the offensive zone,” Jim Slater said. “On the forehand you are just trying to tie it up and let your wingers come in and win it for you. …

“What our line does, in the offensive zone, if it’s on my backhand, I’ll take it, which is on the left side of the rink. If it’s on the right side of the rink, [Chris] Thorburn will take it because it’s his backhand.”

*For each faceoff, the players must be positioned properly. The visiting team must align themselves, with stick on the ice, before the home team player gets set. This is a big advantage.

“The home team can read what he’s going to do, where his hands are, where his stick's at,” Slater said. “You try to combat that and do something different.”

Strategy

The faceoff is the only time during a hockey game that the action is stopped, giving a team a chance to set up a designed play.

“Before the game we have different faceoff plays, in our zone and in the neutral zone,” Slater said. “In the offensive zone we have four or five different plays we can run. On the way to the faceoff, you are kind of talking about what you are going to do, who is going to go where, different plays we can run.”

*Depending on how coaches match lines, the same centermen can meet several times at the faceoff circle. “I try to make the other guys guess what I’m going to do,” Peverley said. “I move my stick around. The way to line up gives you an idea of what the other guys is going to do or what I’m going to do. I try to make him guess what I’m going to do.”

*What if you know you are going to lose a faceoff? A player might know that the opposition will get the puck first. He might even allow it to happen. In those cases he can instruct one of his wingers to anticipate this and jump to where the puck will be directed.

*There are mind games. A player might lose neutral-zone faceoffs on purpose with one move, setting the opposition up for a different move later.

“Sometimes you can set guys with certain things you maybe do in the neutral zone where the draw isn’t so important where it leads to him being a little off-balance for a big draw, whether it’s in your end or their end,” Reasoner said.

*The referee also is a factor. There are different styles in dropping the puck. Some referees are sticklers for proper alignment, some not so much. It helps to know how much a player can get away with.

*And, yes, there is cheating.