How to Manufacture Intensity: Faceoffs

From Grow The Game website!

The hockey season is a marathon of games, full of sprints that can be broken down into individual shifts. Every game is an important two points, but sometimes because of travel, injuries, mental fatigue and any number of other factors, your intensity level just isn’t there. That’s why pregame rituals and preparation is so important. (It’s so important that Score100goals has a 230-page book on it titled 7 Pre-Game Habits of Pro Hockey Players). But if you find yourself in the middle of the game and your energy level isn’t there, a good way to manufacture that necessary intensity is to bring it on during faceoffs.


In the first five to 10 minutes of a game, you can tell if a team is into it by their faceoff success rate—specifically those instances when the draw is a tie, the puck is loose and it takes a winger to win the draw.

A faceoff is the rare battle when opposing players start on an equal footing. Let’s say you play on average about 20 shifts. You might have 10 to 15 faceoffs or more in a game. Each faceoff and ensuing puck possession results in about 25 to 40 percent of your shift’s effectiveness—positively or negatively. (This is not sabermetrics but simple ballpark figures from someone who has the dealer add up his blackjack cards.)
Of course, some player’s responsibilities are higher on different faceoff situations, but if you say to yourself that, no matter what happens going forward, you’re going to win every faceoff battle, then that will automatically change your game. Your intensity level can’t help but raise and the puck will undoubtedly be on your teams’ stick more than the opposing team resulting in more offense.

So bear down on the draws, explode into your match-up player/faceoff assignment with 120 percent intensity and you will see a noticeable difference.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Brett Henning of Score100Goals.com for this story. Henning was a member of the Inaugural National Team Development Program and 2000 World Junior Team with USA Hockey. He played Junior Hockey in Canada and at the collegiate level for the University of Notre Dame. He was drafted by the New York Islanders before a back injury ended his on-ice career.