|
Dave Keon and Faceoff Strategy |
|
|
|
|
|
Follow Paul on Twitter: @paulstewart22
Happy 78th birthday wishes go out to Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Dave Keon. Watching Bruins rookie Ryan Donato (who will be the subject of next Monday's blog) take a faceoff the other night, it reminded me of a story about Keon.
Faceoffs are of the biggest adjustments that most every center has to make when he moves up from the junior or collegiate ranks to the pro level. Even guys who were good faceoff men at the lower levels typically need a few years to get good on draws at the pro level. Ryan is no exception.
Many years ago, I noticed that Keon would change his technique for taking faceoffs over the course of a game. Sometimes he'd go left. Sometimes he'd go right. Generally speaking, he seemed to lose the majority of his draws -- except when they were crucial draws late in a game defending a lead or when otherwise in need of immediate puck possession. In those situations, he rarely lost faceoffs and, in fact, often won cleanly.
I found that interesting, so I asked Dave about it. He was a little surprised, but pleased, that someone had picked up on it. He told me that my eyes hadn't been deceiving me.
"I do that to set guys up," Keon said. "There are just a few draws in an average game where you really have to win them. So I do one thing to set up the other guy to think he knows what to expect me to do, then I switch on him later. It usually works pretty good."
It is in vogue nowadays for the CORSICAN type of hockey "analysts" to almost blanketly trash the value of faceoffs since they're ever-so-hip and believe they know the game better than the people who actually play, coach and officiate it for a living. The truth is that not all faceoffs are created equal, but certain ones loom huge in.
A goal scored quickly off a faceoff win or the vital late game clear than comes off possession can be the difference between winning or losing a tight game. Keon had an innate sense of which draws truly mattered. He knew when and how much to cheat with his feet and how to time it from putting his stick down on the ice to the drop of the puck by the linesman. Inevitably, he also had a better "book" on his opponent than they had on him.
That is what you call veteran hockey savvy. It takes time to acquire it.
Side note: Thank you to everyone who sent me well wishes for my 65th birthday earlier this week. I appreciate each and every one of them. This Dorchester boy will keep on fighting and keep on skating for as long as it's the will of the big ref upstairs.
************
Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
Join the Discussion:
»