All sports have their version of restarting game play. What causes a faceoff in ice hockey?
A referee blowing their whistle and stopping play causes a faceoff in hockey. A faceoff is used to restart the game after play has been whistled and stopped by an official. The most common stoppages are a penalty committed by a player, offsides, icing, or a goal.
The game of hockey is known for its fast play and lack of pauses during play. Let’s discover why these 4 actions bring the game to a halt.
When do Referees Blow Their Whistle After a Penalty?
In basketball, baseball, and most of the time in football, refs stop play when an infraction is committed. This is the common idea around an illegal play: when a player commits the infraction, stop play, and reset the game accordingly. The goal of sports is to play the game and let the game flow as much as possible, minimizing stoppage time. Hockey and soccer are on the same wavelength when it comes to stopping play when a foul has been committed.
When watching hockey, you may have noticed a referee raise their arm as soon as they see the infraction, but not blow their whistle immediately. Why is that? If you know soccer at all, it is the same idea as the ref giving an advantage to a team that has possession. The play will continue until the defensive has possession of the puck. They are not going to stop the game, giving the advantage of that play to the defense team.
If the offensive team has possession of the puck, it would not make sense for them to have to stop a play that could result in a goal. You will also see the offensive goalie skate off quickly as soon as he notices the penalty call is in favor of their team. This allows the offense to get an extra skater on the ice and have a 6 on 5 advantage before the penalty even starts. Even if the defense shoots the puck into the net, the goal does not count because the shot counts as a possession.
If the offensive team scores when a penalty is about to be called in their favor, the goal is rewarded, and the penalty does not have to be served. That assumes it is a 2:00 minute minor penalty. If something more egregious occurred, the goal will soak up the first 2:00 minutes, and then the player that is serving the penalty will sit the remainder of the time.
What Determines Where the Faceoff is in Hockey?
The referee determines where the faceoff will take place. There are 9 faceoff dots around a hockey rink. The main one is right in the middle of the rink. Here is an image to show you where the other 8 dots are located.
Refs do a great job quickly getting the puck and pointing to where the faceoff will take place. They will point to a circle that is closest to where the puck exited the rink or a dot near the blue line where a play went into a zone offside. Players have about 5 seconds to get into position once the referees are in their place to restart the game. I wrote another article about why players get kicked out of faceoffs.
If a penalty was committed by a player, the team going on the power play will get the puck dropped in their offensive zone, further giving them the advantage. If icing is the call, the puck comes all the way back down and placed in the zone where the defense shot it out of. A recent rule change allows, after an icing call, the team that will be in the offensive zone chooses which faceoff dot they would like to take the draw. For example, if their center is stronger on the left side, they will always choose that side. This rule change further discourages icing, which slows the game down.
After a goal or a restart of a period, the puck is dropped at center ice. Sometimes there is a weird play and refs might have got a call mixed up or they feel like the play should resume at a neutral place on the ice, they will use the center dot. There are official rules as to which faceoff circle is to be the place of the faceoff, but the NHL does allow the game to be governed many times by how the referees think the play should be called.
Faceoff Circles. What are They?
Faceoff circles are used for faceoffs as we have discussed. In the image above, you can see they are placed throughout the rink to help players line up and restart the game. The dot gives the ref a place to aim when he drops the puck. The dot is a place for players to concentrate and know where the puck will be dropped. You will see players bicker at the ref for not dropping the puck straight on the dot.
As you can see in the image above, the players taking the draw are huddled directly over the faceoff dot (the other players are encroaching on both sides, which is illegal by the book).
Does the Puck Have to Hit the Ice on a Faceoff?
The puck does not have to hit the ice on a faceoff. As the USA Hockey Rule Book states, “As long as the player made a legal attempt to gain possession of the puck, the play shall be allowed to continue. If the Linesman had dropped the puck and it accidentally hit the stick or glove of either player facing-off, play must be immediately stopped and a new face-off conducted.” Regarding the 8 other players on the ice, they are not supposed to touch each other as well, but you see it all the time. This rule allows refs to communicate to players to back up if needed. If players are touching each other, one thing leads to another and you never get the game restarted because they will not stand still.
There are many rules around the faceoff restart which I go over in this article, but around the puck hitting the ice specifically, players cannot hit each other or their equipment before they touch the puck. Both stick blades must be on the ice completely when the puck leaves the refs hands.
Why do Players Change During Faceoffs?
Players change during faceoffs because their teammate gets kicked out of the faceoff circle. When watching hockey, you will see everyone line up and the ref will not drop the puck. He will then back up from the dot and motion one player to leave. The reason the players is kicked out of the draw is because of an illegal procedure during the process of taking the faceoff.
It is very common for players to try to get an advantage on their opponent when taking a faceoff because puck possession is key to victory in hockey. Usually, centers will take faceoffs, and then if they have to change during the faceoff, the second-best draw player will skate to the dot to take the faceoff. After icing, the defensive zone team cannot switch players. Hockey deemed this a way to stall and regain some energy before the puck is put back in play. Now, if that player commits and illegal procedure, the ref notifies everyone by holding up 1 finger in the air. If the player commits another infraction, that team is assessed a 2-minute minor penalty for delay of game.
Hockey is all about match-ups as well. If a player is a known threat in the faceoff circle, then he will always line up to take the draw. Sometimes players will skate up to take the faceoff, then switch before the ref is set because he does not like the match-up. Also, either team could be running a play off the draw, so the best faceoff winner might be the best shooter on the line as well.