Face-offs: issue or non-issue?
More from Don:
-----
It was reported in this blog earlier that winning face offs has been an issue for the Kings this season, and in winning only 16 of 45 draws in last week's overtime loss to Vancouver it was obvious that allowing the Canucks puck possession had the Kings on their collective heels most of the game and ultimately cost them a win.
But upon further review of the last 10 games, it appears that in at least recent history, face offs haven't been the biggest culprit.
During the 10-game span, the Kings have won 249 of 528 face offs (47%) and have actually been on the positive side of winning draws in half of the 10 games. In fact, the Kings had a three game streak (versus Montreal, Ottawa and St. Louis) where they won more draws than their opponents unfortunately they lost two of those three games.
Perhaps an even stranger statistical oddity: In the Kings' 4-1 victory over Nashville on Thursday, the Predators actually won 38 of the 64 face offs (the Kings winning only 41% of the draws), the Kings then won three more face offs than Minnesota in the Wild’s 2-0 victory.
Forward Michal Handzus, who is called upon to take many key face offs each game is at a loss to explain exactly why the team is wildly inconsistent in the face off circle.
"It's really strange because some games are good and others it's just pretty bad," Handzus said. "Personally it's something I'm working on and hopefully things will improve. You really want to win every face off you take because puck possession is so important - just look at teams like San Jose and Detroit. We need to be winning 65-70% of our face offs."
Handzus isn't the answer for anything.
No trade clause for him too.
Along with Blake and Thornton.
They don't call him Dumbardi for nothing.
I've always thought that it's not so much how many faceoffs you win but when you win them. For instance winning the faceoff in the offensive zone during a power play is huge. It get things going positively from the start of any power play opportunity.
It's really about quality, not quantity. The problem the Kings have is that they do not have a "go-to" guy in the face off circle.
Instead of shelling out 18 million dollars for Michal Handzus for four potentially dreadfully long seasons, it may have been wise to pay a guy like Yanic Perreault less than a million dollars to "mentor" the young centers for a season. Perreault is consistently among the best, if not the best in the league, and would have provided as much offense as Handzus has this season. While there are deficiencies in Perreault's game, it's certainly an art to be able to take draws the way he does, and believe me, as Tom said earlier in this thread, there are times when it's truly huge to be able to control the puck in the offensive zone. The Kings are brutal at it.
P.S. Handzus' pipedream is a little off the reality perch. The top NHL team on the draw is Detroit at a little over 54%. The Kings only win 47.8% of their draws which puts them at 27th in the league.
Why is he (Handzus) even being talked to? He has not scored a goal in 2008! Send him to Manchester and bring someone else in. I'd rather see Zieler running around hitting people and not scoring than Handzus' over priced mug on the ice not scoring. At least Zeiler made me laugh, with Handzus I want to cry, 4 years and millions for what?
@ kevco
he was interviewed because he has taken the most faceoffs for the kings so far this season at 1041!
"Forward Michal Handzus, who is called upon to take many key face offs each game is at a loss to explain exactly why the team is wildly inconsistent in the face off circle."
I agree with Anthony & Kevco.
This player is not worth anything close to what he's getting paid for.
And a NTC to compound things.
DL is an idiot.
In the beginning of the season. We were told that he was injured and that he'd start putting up some numbers once his knee started to heel.
It's been 73 games. And I've seen ZERO improvement in his game sice Day 1.
DL is a real idiot.
Everyone in light of the NTC's being exercised this year seems to have forgotten that the player has the right to waive it. Just because Handzus has one does not mean he can't be traded down the road if someone is looking for his services. It's not his NTC that's going to keep him from being moved in the future, it's the $4 mil/yr. that will be an overpayment if he doesn't step up his game next season.
If DL is an idiot he is getting paid unlike some of you morons up here. Let
the man do his job for a couple of more seasons and then judge him. If he drafts like he signs FA's
he will be out of here in
a couple of more years.So
far his grade should be
incomplete on drafting which is the most important
part of his job.
Rich, I doubt you want to get into the business of banning people, but unfortunately, these comment boards are devolving to a LGK-like level fast. If guys like anthony are going to contribute absolutely nothing but negative drivel and grade-school name-calling, then there is really no reason for them to be here. Perhaps an ignore feature could be added? Thanks for the continued great info on this blog.
How about bringing back Belanger for the face-off circle. He's got good hands too.
Quattro...
This is a blog, not a message board, and although it is "moderated" in some fashion, it's really anyone's right to speak their mind, since the owner has allowed that functionality. We all have people we choose to ignore on some level, and regular readers and contributors know who the haves and have-nots are. While not necessarily encouraging the "have-nots," we should continue to tolerate, because afterall, you can never please all of the people all the time. One man's ceiling is another man's floor. I've been shown the door (HF) for infractions that have nothing to do with my contributions as they relate to my input into conversations/topics relating to hockey. Meanwhile, there, and the other board you mentioned, there are dozens (hundreds) of posters with very limited knowledge of the sport that litter their opinions on the boards over and over without repercussion. You're never going to get true cleansing when you invite discussion, so it's best to just let it be :)
P.S. Did you hear the one about the long time, well respected moderator at HF that was removed from his post because he chose to promote MY blog? It's hard to believe, but it's true.