The Nashville Predators are hockey’s best faceoff team, particularly in the defensive zone, but don’t do much with those possessions
Last season’s Nashville Predators were absolutely dynamite in the faceoff circle. Their crew of centers was composed of veteran players with sandpaper, with guys like Paul Gaustad, Matt Cullen, Mike Fisher, and David Legwand leading the way.
That may not be the case this season, with Fisher out with a ruptured Achilles and new centers Mike Ribeiro (43.4 percent last year) and Olli Jokinen (46 percent), but Gaustad and Cullen remain to help keep the Predators above water.
But last year … oh last year. They were something. Hockey has become more and more about dominating possession, and the Predators took the puck off faceoffs the bulk of the time. What they did with it from there may not have been great - okay, it wasn’t great, as you’ll see - but at least they got out of the gates well.
Nashville was the best faceoff team in hockey, winning 53.1 percent of their total faceoffs, which put them ahead of the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings for top spot.
They were particularly dominant in the D-zone, winning draws at a league-best rate of nearly 56 percent, highlighted by Paul Gaustad’s 59.9 percent (10th best in the NHL) and Matt Cullen’s 61.7 percent (fourth best). The top 20 in the D-zone boasts names like perennial Selke competitors Anze Kopitar, Patrice Bergeron, and Jonathan Toews, so y’know, it’s pretty decent company.
Following up Gaustad and Cullen were Nick Spaling (52.7 percent), Fisher (52 percent) and Legwand (51.1 percent).
