The Detroit Red Wings have dominated the faceoff circle the past two games – 71 per cent Sunday against the Calgary Flames and 65 per cent Friday against the Vancouver Canucks – but captain Henrik Zetterberg doesn’t think people should put much stock in those numbers.
“I think faceoffs are just one of those things where either you do have it or you don’t have it,… Zetterberg said. “As a centerman, if you win the first couple of faceoffs, you get in a good groove and you get confidence. The other guy will probably start thinking a little bit.
“I think that’s basically what it is. Sometimes too, there’s a lot of 50-50 pucks and if the wingers are able to get those (it’s a faceoff win).
“If you start with the puck it’s a lot easier. But I don’t really have any recipe why you win and why you lose. Some nights you have it.…
It also helps to have a little trickery up your sleeve when staring down an opponent across the dot.
“It’s basically the guy who gets away with the most cheating wins,… Zetterberg said. “That’s how faceoffs are right now.
“If you’re a good cheater you’re a good faceoff man.…
Zetterberg believes he learned how to bend the faceoff rules from the guy who was the master of this underhanded art.
“That’s my tricks,… Zetterberg said, turning tongue in cheek. “I’m actually not that good of a cheater. I’m pretty honest. You can ask the linesmen.
“I’m an honest centerman. But I learned from the best, (former Red Wing) Kris Draper, the best cheater as a centerman.…
Zetterberg believes that Draper is among the all-time greats in the faceoff circle.
“He’s up there,… Zetterberg said. “Absolutely. When I came into the league I looked a lot at what he did and got advice from him.
“His first advice was cheat as much as you can.…
With this season’s new faceoff regulations, cheating has become even more significant.
“The biggest difference this year is that in your own end you have to put your stick down first,… Zetterberg said. “I think if you’re the offensive man you have an advantage if you have to put your stick down last.
“That’s the biggest difference this year. I think you just have to cheat a little more. Sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you don’t.…
According to Zetterberg, the linesmen who work the game can also impact a player’s faceoff success ratio.
“It does,… Zetterberg said. “You have a guy who’s a little bit on your side and sometimes, you have a guy that you probably said something to that you shouldn’t have said and he remembered that.…
Dot Complicated Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill was perplexed by a message regarding faceoffs that was relayed to him by a purveyor of fancy stats.
“I had one analytics guy tell me you should be at 49.5 per cent in order in order to maximize (success),… Blashill laughed. “You should lose more than you should win. If you’re 49.5 you’re perfect. If you’re 50.5 you’re not as good, so I’m not sure.
“Certainly having the puck – we’re a team that wants the puck. We don’t to give the puck up, so starting with the puck I believe helps out. That guy didn’t.…
Blashill especially wants his team to be strong at the dot when there’s man advantage situations involved.
“I think there’s two areas where faceoffs are critical, power play and penalty kill,… he said. “I think specialty team faceoffs are even more important than five on five.…
Ericsson Questionable Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson, believed to have a shoulder issue, remained uncertain as to whether he’d play Tuesday against New Jersey.
“There’s no decision as far as I know,… Ericsson said. “We’ll see tomorrow.…
Ericsson indicated he was injured in the third period of Friday’s game and that there had been little progress in terms of healing since Sunday.
“Today, it’s not much better,… Ericsson said.
It’s possible that the Wings might just opt to give Ericsson Tuesday off, aware that the three-day Christmas break will aid the healing process.
“That would be one of the considerations that we’ll talk about tomorrow,… Ericsson acknowledged.
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