Is the evidence overwhelming?
True. Key faceoffs is all that matters. On the PP, Anytime during OT, On the PK especially in your end, Down a goal in the O zone in the final minutes with goalie pulled. Those are the only faceoffs that should matter.Faceoffs are not vital to team success but man it's sure frustrating when a team can't win them to save their lives.
No one here is pounding the table for the Avs to go out and entice Zenon Konopka or Paul Gaustad to come out of retirement. But it's nice when the Avs address this issue, which they only did very sparingly last season, if at all.
I WILL say that the combination of being bad at faceoffs (especially KEY faceoffs) and having a goalie in Grubauer who was not good at tracking the puck was just plain maddening. So many goals against I could remember being the direct result of the Avs losing the draw in their own zone and Grubauer still looking for it by the time it was in the net.
True. Key faceoffs is all that matters. On the PP, Anytime during OT, On the PK especially in your end, Down a goal in the O zone in the final minutes with goalie pulled. Those are the only faceoffs that should matter.
Yep. The Avs won the Cup going 16-4 in the playoffs being one of the worst faceoff teams in the league.
Faceoffs are pretty meaningless, outside maybe 5-7 a game. And even those "big" draws are over hyped. We could have lost that "big" faceoff in SJ and still tied the game, it just gave us a slightly better chance.
Both threads will outperform Jonathan DrouinHey, maybe y'all should have a dedicated face-off thread. Keep it going all season, maybe it'll outperform the injury thread.
Saying faceoffs don't matter because the stats say they only matter a small percentage of the time, is like saying looking both ways before crossing the street doesn't mater, because it only matters a small percentage of the time.
Or that power plays don't matter because they only score a small percentage of the time.
You better hide...Faceoffs are important. End of. Every shift you can start with possession is a shift where you aren't chasing down the puck carrier. While it isn't crucial to start every shift with the puck, it certainly would be beneficial.
How many powerplays go down the drain due to a lost faceoff followed by the inability to regain the zone? How many penalties go un-killed because the opposition starts with the puck and we can't clear? Hell, Game 1 showed us that even a lost draw at centre ice can lead to a goal which could have potentially swung the momentum of the game.
"Only important faceoffs matter". You don't just flip a switch at important moments in a game and magically win all your faceoffs as needed. You're either consistently good at them, or you're likely to fail when it matters.
Dismissing faceoffs as an unimportant facet of the game is ridiculous.
I love your optimismHey, maybe y'all should have a dedicated face-off thread. Keep it going all season, maybe it'll outperform the injury thread.
Faceoffs are important. End of. Every shift you can start with possession is a shift where you aren't chasing down the puck carrier. While it isn't crucial to start every shift with the puck, it certainly would be beneficial.
How many powerplays go down the drain due to a lost faceoff followed by the inability to regain the zone? How many penalties go un-killed because the opposition starts with the puck and we can't clear? Hell, Game 1 showed us that even a lost draw at centre ice can lead to a goal which could have potentially swung the momentum of the game.
"Only important faceoffs matter". You don't just flip a switch at important moments in a game and magically win all your faceoffs as needed. You're either consistently good at them, or you're likely to fail when it matters.
Dismissing faceoffs as an unimportant facet of the game is ridiculous.
You better hide...
I laughed so hard about this, my favorite playerYeah, maybe.
Also, MacKinnon this week in practice…
View attachment 753258
Lol at Sakic behind the glass and nobody on the ice caring one iota, just usual MacK stuff.
I blame nico sturm!This happens when the Avs play the sharks. Remember when Kahkonnen had a game like blackwood had last night? Remember when Josef Korenar did the same against the Avs? I dont know what it is with the Sharks but the Avs love making their goalies look like prime Hasek. Ditto Arizona.
We as a collective watched the 16-17 Avs be 2nd in the league in faceoff % while getting 48 points, and yet people put value in that stat for some reason.
From 2021
From 2017
Charting Hockey: On the value of faceoffs
It happened again. On Saturday night, the Maple Leafs faced off against the Buffalo Sabres in an eventual 3-1 loss. The loss isn’t the “happened again” part – though, Leafs fans have endured many defeats at the hands of their divisional rival over the past decade or more. The “happened...theathletic.com
We as a collective watched the 16-17 Avs be 2nd in the league in faceoff % while getting 48 points, and yet people put value in that stat for some reason.
From 2021
From 2017
Charting Hockey: On the value of faceoffs
It happened again. On Saturday night, the Maple Leafs faced off against the Buffalo Sabres in an eventual 3-1 loss. The loss isn’t the “happened again” part – though, Leafs fans have endured many defeats at the hands of their divisional rival over the past decade or more. The “happened...theathletic.com
At least Bednar believes winning faceoffs. I think he started the last overtime with Johansen as a center and then he switched off instantly when he won it. I think it was Makar-Johansen-MacKinnon and then Johansen won the faceoff and left the ice.
Someone confirm.
Getting the first possession in 3vs3 is pretty good.
did someone hear a toilet flushing ?I appreciate the continued effort but at this point it simply is what it is... We could throw all the stats and graphs in the world into this thread to show how meaningless faceoffs are and they'll ignore every one of them.
Just let them continue believing in it.