Everything has to start somewhere and in
hockey it is with the "face-off". Face-offs occur dozens of
times each game, and for the most part they are done without incident.
However, from time to time, problems occur and the official has to take
action.
The face-off may be simple, but the actual
rule is not:
Rule 57 (a):
"A face-off shall take place when the
Referee or Linesmen drops the puck on the ice between the sticks of the
players facing off.
The players taking the face-off shall stand
squarely facing their opponents’ end of the rink, approximately one
stick length apart with the full blade of the stick flat on the ice. All
other players on both teams must be at least 4.57m (15 ft.) from the
players taking the face-off and they must be on-side.
When the face-off takes place at any of the
face-off spots in the end zones, the players taking part in the face-off
shall take their positions so that they will stand squarely facing their
opponents’ end of the rink, and clear of the face-off restraining lines.
The sticks of both players facing-off shall have the toe of the blade
touching within the designated white area and the player of the Visiting
Team shall place her stick within the designated white area first.
All other players on the ice must position
themselves and their sticks on-side. If a player, other than the player
taking the face-off, moves off-side, makes physical contact with an
opponent or encroaches on the face-off circle prior to the dropping of the
puck, then the offencing team’s player taking the face-off shall be
ejected from the face-off." (Canadian Hockey Case Book/Rule
Combination, 2001, pg. 148).
After reading the above rule, you can
gather that a face-off takes place at the beginning of a game and each
period and after every whistle for the remainder of the game. If a
face-off does not take place after the whistle has been blown then there
is no way of starting the game again. If you referee Mickey Mouse hockey
then the referee may throw the puck in the corner but for official Minor
Hockey, Junior and Professional sanctioned games an official face-off must
take place.
Fans hate to see players tossed out of
face-offs and they always yell at the Linesmen to "Drop the
puck!" The delay in the game annoys fans because they want to see
action, not players getting kicked out of face-offs. However, the reason
why players are getting tossed out of face-offs is that one of the players
on the offending team is not obeying the rules of the face-off and thus
they are in essence cheating. A Linesman’s
prime duty at each and every face-off is to provide a fair face-off.
So why do centremen get kicked out of
face-offs? One of the reasons is that the centreman himself is not obeying
the proper procedures of a face-off. The centreman must come in square,
using the two "L" lines to position their feet and they are
required to place their sticks flat on the ice and only the tips of their
blades are allowed to be in contact with the face-off dot. When centremen
come in crooked (feet not within the constraints of the two "L"
lines) or when the tips of their sticks are not facing the other end
boards or when their sticks are not on the ice, they may be tossed out of
the circle to be replaced by another member of their team.
The most common reason for a centreman
getting tossed out of a face-off is that he is moving before the puck is
actually out of the Linesman’s hand. Centremen like to get the jump on
the Linesman by placing their stick on the ice and then immediately
lifting their stick and moving it forward across the face-off dot. They
then try to sweep the puck back between their legs. This works if the
Linesman actually drops the puck as the stick is moving forward, because
as the stick is coming back towards his body the puck is already on the
ice making it easy for this centreman to win the draw.
When centremen continue to put their sticks
on the ice and then immediately lift them they are likely to be tossed out
of the face-off because it is not fair to the other team’s centreman who
has remained stationary as he is supposed to. Another popular reason why
centremen will be tossed out of a face-off is because they are moving into
the face-off in an attempt to anticipate the Linesman dropping the puck.
If a centreman is moving at a face-off he will likely be tossed because it
is not only unfair to the other team but the Linesman has a greater chance
of being hit by this player as he skates through the face-off dot.
The centreman must come in square to a
face-off with one foot on each side of the "L" lines and he
should be stationary (not moving) with the tip of the stick pointing
towards the opposite end of the ice and flat on the ice. If this does not
happen then he will likely be tossed out of the face-off circle. Granted,
Linesman like to get the play going as quick as possible just like the
fans, so they tend to give a little leeway with this rule. Usually as long
as the centreman has his stick on the ice and in the white part of the
face-off dot with his feet in the "L" lines and hardly moving,
he will drop the puck without throwing the centreman out of the circle.
The other reason why centemen get tossed
out of the face-off has to deal with wingers who are usually trying to get
a jump on their opponents by anticipating when the Linesman will drop the
puck. First of all, the Linesman dropping the puck is responsible for the
two centremen and for the players located in front of him. If one of these
players jumps off-side then it is his duty to toss the centreman. On
almost every face-off, there is usually a winger from each team located
behind the Linesman dropping the puck. It is the duty of the other
Linesman that is located on the opposite side of the ice near the blue
line to enforce the encroachment rule against these players.
The players not taking the face-off must
keep their bodies and their sticks outside of the hash mark area. If a
player has his stick inside this area then he is considered to be off-side
and the centreman may be tossed out of the face-off. It is legal though
for the wingers at the face-off to have their sticks inside the face-off
circle as long as their sticks do not enter the hash mark area. For this
rule you must imagine the hash marks extending right across the ice
surface.
If a player ‘jumps the gun’ so to speak
and enters into the end zone face-off circle before the puck is dropped
then the centreman will be tossed out. If a winger from each team that is
lined up across from each other jumps the gun at the same time, the
Linesmen are instructed to send a message to the teams and kick out only
one centreman. They try to toss the centreman who’s winger jumped
slightly first. If they can not determine this then they will mostly toss
out the attacking centreman because an end zone face-off is crucial, more
so for the defending team, so it would penalize the defending team more to
toss out their centreman as opposed to the attacking centreman.
Sometimes you will see two centreman tossed
but for the most part the Linesmen are taught to only throw out one
centreman at a time. It sends a stronger message to the teams to stay
on-side.
In fact a penalty can be assessed to a team
who has more than one centeman tossed from a face-off at the same face-off
or stoppage of play. This is rarely called and it usually never gets to
this point because the Linesmen, as stated earlier, like to get the game
going just as much as the fans, so they will work extra hard with the
replacement centreman to obey the rules of the face-off.
