Lunatik
Registered User
- Oct 12, 2012
- 56,252
- 8,384
In case you were unaware the faceoff rules are changing. I was reminded of this as the AHL announced they are adopting the new NHL rule on faceoffs of the upcoming season. If you were unaware in previous seasons the the visiting player would place their stick on the ice first, starting this year it will be the defending player who placed their stick on the ice first giving the advantage to the offensive team (I do believe this also applies to neutral zone draws). Faceoffs at centre ice will have the road team place their stick first.
So what does this mean for us?
Offensively I think it could be a good thing. of our top 6 faceoff guys (in draws taken) 5 were over 50% at home; Colborne (60.7%), Stajan (55.1%), Jooris (52.1%), Monahan (51.2%), Backlund (51.0%) and Granlund (41.0%). This bodes well for offensive possession and should theoretically give our PP a boost (although our PP was actually slightly better on the road last year).
However every coin has 2 sides and this one is scarier the Hanging of Tom Paine Token from 1796
Defensively this could be very very bad. Our best faceoff guy on the road was Monahan at only 47.3%, followed by Backlund (46.1), Colborne (44.5), Stajan (44.4), Jooris (43.9) and Granlund (32.8).
Drew Shore could be a wildcard here though. He never took many draws this past season (59 total), however 50 of those were on the road. While is 48.0% on the road is hardly impressive it would still be better than Stajan or Jooris who will IMO likely be playing with Shore.
Let's hope faceoffs mean less than I feel they do and that our guys show some improvement.
So what does this mean for us?
Offensively I think it could be a good thing. of our top 6 faceoff guys (in draws taken) 5 were over 50% at home; Colborne (60.7%), Stajan (55.1%), Jooris (52.1%), Monahan (51.2%), Backlund (51.0%) and Granlund (41.0%). This bodes well for offensive possession and should theoretically give our PP a boost (although our PP was actually slightly better on the road last year).
However every coin has 2 sides and this one is scarier the Hanging of Tom Paine Token from 1796
Defensively this could be very very bad. Our best faceoff guy on the road was Monahan at only 47.3%, followed by Backlund (46.1), Colborne (44.5), Stajan (44.4), Jooris (43.9) and Granlund (32.8).
Drew Shore could be a wildcard here though. He never took many draws this past season (59 total), however 50 of those were on the road. While is 48.0% on the road is hardly impressive it would still be better than Stajan or Jooris who will IMO likely be playing with Shore.
Let's hope faceoffs mean less than I feel they do and that our guys show some improvement.
