Faceoffs can feel like a minor part of the game, but winning more of them turns directly into more scoring chances.
This post covers an alternative to the standard faceoff alignment, one used widely at higher levels of play.
Problems with Traditional Faceoff Formations
Most beer league teams use the basic center ice faceoff formation everywhere on the ice. That works fine at center ice and in the attacking zone, but it is a weak setup in the defensive zone.
There is a better option. This alignment only makes sense for defensive zone faceoffs, but there it is a much better arrangement.
In the traditional alignment, some players have to skate through others to reach their coverage area. None of those routes take them toward where the puck is likely to go. And if the attackers shift their setup, the defenders have an even harder time gaining position.
In the diagram, the attacking team gets an area of uncontested ice after the draw (shaded grey). On a clean win, both the RW and RD have open space for a shot from that grey area before a defender can reach them or even get into the lane to block it, since the defenders are coming from a bad angle.
Alternative Defensive Zone Formation
The alternative lines players up with their coverage area and the shooting lane.
Wingers need to cover ground fast after the draw. In this formation they can jump right away because their first strides are the same whether the faceoff is won or lost, and they are not stuck battling the other wingers when the draw is contested.
What happens in this formation:
- Defensemen engage the opposing wingers immediately.
- Wingers move immediately.
- Wingers skate straight at the opposing defensemen.
- Wingers always stay in the shooting lane.
- The strong-side winger (LW in the example) moves through the soft spot to steal soft faceoff wins.
- Both wingers gain speed for a quick breakaway on a clean win.
The biggest challenge: this system puts pressure on the strong-side defenseman (LD in the example) to retrieve pucks on a faceoff win. If your defensemen are among the weaker skaters on your team, it is not a good fit.
Set Play Breakaway
This setup is especially good at creating breakaways because the wingers attack up the middle of the ice. On a clean win (and sometimes even a lost draw), one or both wingers can get a step on flat-footed defensemen at the point, which opens up several breakaway plays. One of the most common is shown in the diagram. You can run it from other faceoff formations, but it is much more practical here because of the angles the attackers and defenders are skating.
After the draw, coverage still has to match your wingers and defensemen habits, and a clean win should feed a basic breakout.
Bottom line
On defensive zone draws, line your wingers up on the shooting lanes, let the D tie up the wingers, and make sure your strong-side D can move pucks. You give up less in the slot and get breakaway chances on clean wins.
Set plays work best when the same lines show up every week. If figuring out who is in still happens in a group text, that is what RosterFX is for.
