"When the puck drops, that’s one of the only one-on-one battles in hockey."
—Guy Carbonneau
"When the puck drops, that’s one of the only one-on-one
battles in hockey."
—Guy Carbonneau
When I first started watching hockey, the faceoff appeared as chaotic an event as the ping-pong ball drop used to determine winning lottery numbers. Two guys flail at a falling puck, one of them is bound to make contact first, and then off goes the puck in some crazy direction. Seems like anyone who takes a faceoff has a 50/50 chance of winning it, right?
In truth some players win more than 50%
of their draws, and during the 97-98 season, Guy Carbonneau was
third in the league at .594. His expertise earned him the main
focus in an article on faceoffs in Sports Illustrated,
which ranked him seventh best in NHL history. This usually ignored
skill, tracked statistically for the first time this season, doesn’t
seem as heroic as the 60-foot slapper of an Al MacInnis or the
shutout string of an Olaf Kolzig. But as Guy points out, the faceoff
is a unique moment in hockey that pits one man’s skill against
another, a moment that can sometimes determine the outcome of
a game.
AN ART FORM
Think of it as a split second fencing match…it’s a bit of swashbuckling. Or a drag race of inches that allows you an eyeblink to get there first. Or a psychic challenge: can you guess where your stick will need to be in an instant? It will take your best vision, your keenest reflexes, your balance, your strength, your coordination, your aim, your cunning…and if you get a second swipe, all that again.
Hey, it’s an art form. When Guy has an off night, he has the Dallas video coordinator splice together film of all his faceoffs to study between periods. "Some nights my reflexes aren’t there," says Carbo, "but if it’s mechanical, I’ll try to find the flaw. On the nights when nothing’s working, I don’t worry as much about winning as making sure the other guy doesn’t get it clean."
WATCH HIM
. . .
Seem heroic yet? Well, just watch Carbonneau ready himself for the drop. He’s got that overhand grip midway down the shaft which some think he invented and most agree he made popular. He’s got those snap reflexes—which in most players have given out before this age—coiled and ready to spring. Eyes and brain have switched to auto pilot; there’s no time to think in this business. His body is poised to apply the quickest action with the most strength and be ready for whatever happens next.
What happens next, I’ve found watching Guy take faceoffs, is more often than not a preternatural interception of a falling puck and its instant redirection to the vicinity of a nearby Dallas Star. Not so chaotic after all; that’s exactly what this faceoff hero intended to happen.
Click HERE for "Faceoff"
wallpaper for your PC (featuring Guy, Joe Nieuwendyk, and Doug
Jarvis of Dallas, thanks to Sports Illustrated--90K)
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