Ice Hockey Strategy: The Face-Off By Scott Gelbard

Ice Hockey Strategy: The Face-Off

By Scott Gelbard

Living in Colorado, I enjoy a wide range of outdoor and sporting activities, including

soccer, skiing, dirt biking, and ice hockey. Having gained experience playing soccer at the collegiate level and coaching at a private high school, I now instruct my children with the Arapahoe Warriors soccer team. I have also coached my kids in hockey for three

years with Arapahoe Hockey Club in Littleton, Colorado.

Hockey remains a complex sport, with many offensive and defensive strategies involved in

building a winning team. These strategies include footwork, puck handling, passing, and shooting. One area significant in determining the flow of the game is the face-off, as the team that wins more often has the chance of capitalizing at critical junctures of the match. Just as with other aspects of this team sport, the face-off requires coordination between players. Centers obviously play the pivotal role in controlling

the puck, but the other players also have specialized duties to perform. After securing the

puck, all members of the offense have an excellent opportunity to execute a play and score.

The position of center requires a player to have excellent speed, reaction time, and arm strength. Anticipation remains of paramount importance to out-dueling for the puck. To

control the puck, players will often concentrate not on getting to it with their stick, but on tangling up the opposing player’s stick, which allows the center to kick the puck out to

a teammate.

The position of the face-off also determines strategy. With a defensive face-off, the center

tries not to control the puck, but rather to prevent the opposition from gaining a clean position and a clear shot at the net. With an

offensive face-off, the center tries to gain control of the puck cleanly and send it to a

winger or other teammate who can generate a quick attempt at the net. Naturally,

successful hockey involves much more than the face-off, but this unique one-on-one duel

presents an excellent chance to shift the flow, momentum, and the outcome of the match.