Faceoff Issues

[Arsenal14]

As I'm sure most of us have noticed, the Flames "centers" get kicked out of the faceoffs an awful lot. My question is: why? Is there some specific thing they are consistently doing? I know of a few things that can get a player tossed, like encroachment by the wingers or playing the puck before it hits the ice, but I haven't been able to pick up anything that is obviously wrong. What am I missing?

With the team faceoff percentage being so low I certainly wouldn't be shocked if they are trying to push the limits to gain an advantage but I suspect the percentages are also being hurt by having guys like Jackman and Glencross having to take faceoffs.

[calumniate]

It's because the refs hate the flames! Hehe, seriously thought I think it's because the flames have to work 'extra hard' / cheat at the faceoff dot to even have a hope of winning them.

[nik-]

Everyone is getting kicked out constantly across the league, it's embarrassing. The Linesmen are seriously out of control.

[Papi34]

They are attempting to gain advantage over the opposition, i almost guarantee its something the coaches coach. It also doesnt hurt when you can put Iginla or Glencross or Cervenka in following the center being booted as they are all competent in the dot.

[trumpethead]

Flames had 9 different forwards take at least 1 faceoff yesterday. That has to be a "record" of sorts. I am positive the Flames are the league leaders in getting kicked out of the faceoff.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Flames cheat to make up for the fact that they just plain suck at face-offs, Stajan aside. Still, when you see what Hanzal does on the dot I'm always surprised that he gets away with it. Sometimes there's a ridiculous double standard with certain players.

It doesn't help that we only have one true NHL center right now.......ugh.

[Stay Golden]

Originally Posted by trumpethead

Flames had 9 different forwards take at least 1 faceoff yesterday. That has to be a "record" of sorts. I am positive the Flames are the league leaders in getting kicked out of the faceoff.

and unjustly kicked out.
I am positive that PHX likely also is the league leader in having lost faceoff's awarded so it it is in their favor by having the opposition not only have to redo but added to that the redo is taken with PHX's opposition Center not being able to take it.

Flat out the NHL cheats in favor of PHX. This is not the first time PHX has been in the gift giving recieving end of this BS.

The EDM vs PHX game was the same garbage in favor of PHX.

[moon]

The Flames are awful at face-offs so they are not surprisingly probably trying to get a jump on the puck drop to make up for it.

Other teams know that they can beat the Flames straight up so no need to try and cheat the same way so they get thrown out a lot less.

The game yesterday was done fine by the linesman and the whining by Stajan is tiresome and likely only going to result in him getting tossed out more if anything.

[Top Shelf]

It's a league wide epidemic and quite embarrassing to see this year. Drop the god damn puck already and quit screwing around!

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Arsenal14

As I'm sure most of us have noticed, the Flames "centers" get kicked out of the faceoffs an awful lot. My question is: why? Is there some specific thing they are consistently doing? I know of a few things that can get a player tossed, like encroachment by the wingers or playing the puck before it hits the ice, but I haven't been able to pick up anything that is obviously wrong. What am I missing?

With the team faceoff percentage being so low I certainly wouldn't be shocked if they are trying to push the limits to gain an advantage but I suspect the percentages are also being hurt by having guys like Jackman and Glencross having to take faceoffs.

Is there any evidence that the Flame Cs are getting kicked out more than the other team? Or is this simply your impression? (just asking)

[Arsenal14]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Is there any evidence that the Flame Cs are getting kicked out more than the other team? Or is this simply your impression? (just asking)

Just my impression. I'm not sure where you'd find numbers on that, though something like the number of distinct players with faceoffs taken might be a reasonable proxy.

So far, the consensus is "we're trying to cheat to make up for how much we suck", which makes sense. What I'm wondering, is what specifically are we doing? Putting our stick down too early/too late, lining up too far forward/back, talking trash to the linesman...

[SofaProfessor]

Don Cherry has an incoherent rambling about this very topic just a few weeks ago. The linesmen just need to drop the puck and get on with it. They get everyone lined up and then hold it there for a painfully long period of time and kick someone out as soon as they flinch. Sorry, but if your sole job at that moment is to anticipate the dropping of a puck and then beat another 200 pound guy to gain possession of that puck - you should be forgiven for being a little antsy. They should just make sure everyone is lined up and drop the puck. The way they are acting is like someone holding a steak in front of hungry wolves and expecting them to sit still until you say it's okay to eat.

[Iggy3x]

Not sure why, but NHL.com only has stats of 4 Flames players taking draws. Are they getting lazy? What is going on.

Edit: Never mind - it does display it all, just a glitch. Of note:
Jones is leading at 59% with 69 draws
Stajan is at 50% with 316 draws.

[Buff]

I've noticed some teams employ the strategy of having their winger line up for the faceoff because they know he'll get kicked out, then their centerman comes in and wins the faceoff.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by Buff

I've noticed some teams employ the strategy of having their winger line up for the faceoff because they know he'll get kicked out, then their centerman comes in and wins the faceoff.

Quite common after icings. Gets an extra 10-15 seconds of rest.

Glencross used to do it all the time.

[MyFlamesFirst]

This is why I was surprised with Jones being sent down. He is actually decent on the draws. When we have a centerman like Jones whos decent and a winger like Comeau who is not... it makes you shake your head a bit. Anyhow, its obvious when the flames are playing against teams with a legitimate center we are going to lose the draw (jumbo, Getzlaff, Kopitar). Centerman is by far the weakest hole on the flames right now.

[Icon]

reminds me of when Jokinen got kicked out of so many faceoffs in one game a couple years ago that the linesman just dropped the puck before he even got to the dot.

[D-Red]

As guys have pointed out above our issues definitely aren't helped by only having one true C right now. Having said that, I had a game on in the background this weekend (think it was Tor and Ott) and guys were getting kicked out like mad. It even got to the point where the commentator belted out "Come on just drop the puck already". As an ex-ref/linesman games where you don't get noticed are the best. That's just embarrassing.

[Stay Golden]

Originally Posted by SofaProfessor

Don Cherry has an incoherent rambling about this very topic just a few weeks ago. The linesmen just need to drop the puck and get on with it. They get everyone lined up and then hold it there for a painfully long period of time and kick someone out as soon as they flinch. Sorry, but if your sole job at that moment is to anticipate the dropping of a puck and then beat another 200 pound guy to gain possession of that puck - you should be forgiven for being a little antsy. They should just make sure everyone is lined up and drop the puck. The way they are acting is like someone holding a steak in front of hungry wolves and expecting them to sit still until you say it's okay to eat.

Incoherent? he was right.