Lost in the shuffle of wrist shots, slap shots, snap shots, and passing ability is a hockey player's ability to prevail in the faceoff circle. Besides making plays for his teammates, one of a center's most important jobs is to win possession of the puck for his team, be it in the offensive, defensive or neutral zones. This seemingly most elementary of plays is easily overlooked by the casual hockey fan, but it's importance cannot be overstated.
The Penalty Kill and Power Play
On special teams, the faceoff takes on an extra degree of importance. In order for an offensive team to be successful on a power play opportunity, they must get and maintain possession of the puck in the offensive zone. A recent rule change gives the team on the power play an offensive zone faceoff at the beginning of their man advantage. Winning this faceoff allows the team with the advantage the opportunity to create a scoring chance immediately and maximize the amount of time they spend in the offensive zone.
Conversely, for the team attempting to kill the penalty, a successful defensive zone faceoff is guaranteed to waste anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds, and allow the penalty killing team a rare chance for a line change. These line changes are critical on the penalty kill, allowing the disadvantaged team a chance to swap out tired players for fresh ones. This prevents the possibility of tired penatly killers being trapped in their own zone for extended periods of time, which will more often than not lead to a goal.
Keys to Faceoff Success
Year in and year out, Red Wings center Kris Draper is consistently one of the best faceoff men in the league. This makes him an invaluable asset for the Red Wings on the penalty kill, and is why the wiley verteran logs a significant amount of icetime on the penalty kill. Watching him take defensive zone faceoffs lends some insight into why he is so effective in the circle on the defensive end.
As the puck drops, Draper will often rotate his body counterclockwise, so that his right foot slides into the circle and cuts his opponents stick off from the puck. This allows him to stick the puck back to his defenseman for a clearing opportunity. If he is unable to free his stick, Draper will often take his left hand off of the stick, reach down and push the puck back to his defense with his glove. This is just one of those small and often overlooked plays that can give one team or another a key advantage, and tilt the game in their favor.
