This entry in its entirety is at HockeyPlayer.com. To read the full article, click here.
Face-offs are a critical part of any hockey game, as any coach will testify. They make a difference in many ways. It’s not just the winning draw, back to the point for the winning goal, with less than a minute to play,……. it’s very much about time of possesion.
Every time your team wins the draw, your team has puck possession. The best defense in the game, is owning the puck. The opposition is forced to spend time and energy, trying to retrieve it. When you look at shots on goal, at the end of any game, you can take a look at face-offs as well, and you will usually see a correlation between the two.
Centermen should take great pride in being sent out to win the draw in their own zone, in the last minute of a close game. They should also realize that they can’t always win it on their own. Everyone at the face-off circle has a responsibility to fight for loose pucks. Many times, after the initial drop of the puck, the puck will lie just a foot or two from the two centermen……… in otherwords, it was basically a tie. The next player into the circle to get that loose puck makes all the difference.
