Face Offs

[siouxman68]

One of the crucial elements that led to the Sioux loss last Thursday night was the inability to control face offs like we did against Michigan and Minnesota in the regionals. A not so slubtle part of the face off battle was that the linesman consistantly threw Toews and VandeVelde, two of the best face off men in the country, out of the draw. Whether intentional or not, it was a very subtle way to tip the scales in BC's favor. We were consistantly back on our heels on defense because of this and in fact one of them resulted in a 3 on 2 odd man rush for BC and a goal.

DG

[PCM]

Toews took 28 faceoffs, far more than any other Sioux player. He won only nine of them. The stats are here. The biggest one he lost was the faceoff immediately after Finley's penalty.

[siouxnami]

Toews took 28 faceoffs, far more than any other Sioux player. He won only nine of them. The stats are here. The biggest one he lost was the faceoff immediately after Finley's penalty.

That was the key faceoff of the game. If Toews won that we dump the puck and reset 5x4.

[hrkac]

it seemed the centers for both teams were thrown out before the player even got set. this happened numerous times and much more than usual. was it becuase of the center or becuase of the other players lined up around the circle?

[dagies]

Toews took 28 faceoffs, far more than any other Sioux player. He won only nine of them. The stats are here. The biggest one he lost was the faceoff immediately after Finley's penalty.

Interesting, they list Bina as having taken the Finley penalty at the end of the game.

[sprig]

Interesting, they list Bina as having taken the Finley penalty at the end of the game.

Bina and Finley = Siamese twins, separated at birth

[dagies]

Bina and Finley = Siamese twins, separated at birth

It is easy to see how they could be mistaken for each other in this instance.

[Siouxman]

What I noticed most of the time was that the BC did not try to "win" the faceoff with their player. Instead, his sole purpose was to tie up our center and then have another player come in and take the puck. That seemed to work most of the time. It also resulted in a number of scrums where the puck was caught up in the players' skates and no one could get control for a while.

[Sioux-per Villain]

That was the key faceoff of the game. If Toews won that we dump the puck and reset 5x4.

That was a key face-off but I don't necessarily agree. The key face-off Toews didn't win is the one he never got a chance to win. If you all recall, at about the 7:19 mark of the third period, there was a TV timeout with the faceoff coming in the BC end. Hakstol sends out the 3rd line even though the DOT line had gotten a nice rest. This proved to be the bench's biggest mistake of the year. In a 3-3 game, shortly after a momentum changing shorthanded goal by Oshie and with minutes left in the game, you have to send that top line out on the penalty kill. BC wins the face-off, Motherwell starts the rush up ice and we lose the game on an odd-man rush that started 170 feet from our net and that little prick Gerbe buries it. I cannot fault the players for this game-changing event.

[stickboy1956]

That was a key face-off but I don't necessarily agree. The key face-off Toews didn't win is the one he never got a chance to win. If you all recall, at about the 7:19 mark of the third period, there was a TV timeout with the faceoff coming in the BC end. Hakstol sends out the 3rd line even though the DOT line had gotten a nice rest. This proved to be the bench's biggest mistake of the year. In a 3-3 game, shortly after a momentum changing shorthanded goal by Oshie and with minutes left in the game, you have to send that top line out on the penalty kill. BC wins the face-off, Motherwell starts the rush up ice and we lose the game on an odd-man rush that started 170 feet from our net and that little prick Gerbe buries it. I cannot fault the players for this game-changing event.

Bad memory - this was BC goal 3 at the 7 minute mark. BC goal 4 came after the Oshie shortie and the Finley "elbow." We had a FO in our zone at the top of the circle with just a few seconds left to kill on Porters penalty - we lost the draw and positioning and BC scored to make it 4-3.

[Sioux-per Villain]

My bad, you are correct it was the Ben Smith goal. Still a bad decision not to start the DOT line on the penalty kill after a TV timeout in the BC end.

Hopefully my memory will get worse as I'd prefer to forget the whole FF!

[Stack]

Being at the game it seemed like BC must have seen somethign in how we do faceoffs because they seemed to be able to get the Sioux player thrown out of the circle whenever they wanted to. I know the stats say Toews took 28 faceoffs but it seemed like he got thrown out more than he actually took.

[PCM]

Being at the game it seemed like BC must have seen somethign in how we do faceoffs because they seemed to be able to get the Sioux player thrown out of the circle whenever they wanted to. I know the stats say Toews took 28 faceoffs but it seemed like he got thrown out more than he actually took.

Honestly, I only remember him getting thrown out for a couple of faceoffs near the end. It was probably more than that, but those are the only ones I clearly remember.

[sprig]

Honestly, I only remember him getting thrown out for a couple of faceoffs near the end. It was probably more than that, but those are the only ones I clearly remember.

Seemed like the stat should have read, lined up for 28, took 8 faceoffs. Seemed like an unbelievable number of times he was thrown out, often, it seemed, before they even lined up.

[7>4]

Did BC's 4th goals occur with Porter still in the box or had he just got out? If memory serves there were only about 2 seconds left on Porter's penalty at time of the BS Finley call. That extra skater at the face off would have been a huge help as we may have had a guy to cover Gerbe coming down the slot, getting the pass and scoring the goal. Seems like it happened so fast that even if Porter got back on the ice he did not have time to get into the play.

Also, I don't think Toews got beat cleanly on the faceoff. I think the faceoff squirted to the far wing who was uncovered due to being 5X3. He skated puck down the boards then passed to Gerbe coming down the slot. I'd like to see a reply just to refresh my memory.

Cue RedFrog and a Youtube posting.

[hrkac]

Seemed like the stat should have read, lined up for 28, took 8 faceoffs. Seemed like an unbelievable number of times he was thrown out, often, it seemed, before they even lined up.

exactly! i was there in person and it seemed that centers on both sides would get tossed before they even put a stick down. could it be becuase of the other guys lined up around the circle? the guy in stripes also took a hella long time to drop the puck as well.

[ScottM]

it seemed the centers for both teams were thrown out before the player even got set. this happened numerous times and much more than usual. was it becuase of the center or becuase of the other players lined up around the circle?

Agreed. It seemed like the refs were pretty quick to toss out players, even as they were lining up. I also agree that BC seemed to have a plan to tie up the puck and let the players fight for it rather than trying to win the draws.

[PCM]

I'd like to see a reply just to refresh my memory.

I watched the replay several times. Porter was just rushing back into the Sioux zone when the goal was scored. He never had a chance to be a factor on the play. That's why losing the faceoff was so critical.

[farce poobah]

I watched the replay several times. Porter was just rushing back into the Sioux zone when the goal was scored. He never had a chance to be a factor on the play. That's why losing the faceoff was so critical.

I didn't watch any replay, but I got REALLY scared when two BC guys tied up Toews out by the blue line, helping to create the 2x1 that Gerbe scored on. Toews never gets caught out of position, and it was clear that he was (legally) detained way out by the blue line and couldn't get back.