Why do we need 2 faceoff circles?

[Tanknomore]

Watching a game the other day got me thinking. Why do we have 2 faceoff circles in the defensive/offensive zones? What is the point?

Would it not be a simple but effective way too increase scoring by making one faceoff circle directly centered to the goalie? That way offensive players are better lined up for a direct shot. It would not make a huge impact to the game and offend traditionalists to much, but it would possibly increase scoring a tad.

If we did that, I would move back the blue line 3-4 inches as well.

Thoughts?

 

[Crescent Street]

Scoring has already gone up the highest it's been in 30 years, why do we need more?

 

[tom leafers]

I feel like that would actually make it easier to defend because the goalie is already squared and the defending team would just stack three defenders in front of wherever they expect a shot to come from.

That and a face off dot in the middle of the zone would disgust me

 

[Tanknomore]

I feel like that would actually make it easier to defend because the goalie is already squared and the defending team would just stack three defenders in front of wherever they expect a shot to come from.

That and a face off dot in the middle of the zone would disgust me

Hmm never thought about it that way, but that could be true. Guess goalie would really be screened though if it got through lol

 

[Kane One]

I want to say that this is something that the NHL tested about 10 years ago.

 

[Tanknomore]

Scoring has already gone up the highest it's been in 30 years, why do we need more?

Bit more scoring never hurt. I enjoyed the 140-170 point seasons by super stars like Lemiux and Jagr in the early 90's I guess.

I want to say that this is something that the NHL tested about 10 years ago.

Interesting. I wonder what the results were. If lined got moved back a bit I think that would help from players becoming pylons in the front of the goalie

 

[abo9]

Good point, I never thought abiut why there were left/right circles (even in the neutral zone, weird really!)

Geometrically wise though, it seems like the defensive team would be pushed in a more favorable position and closer to the blue line.

Offensive defensemen especially would be closer than ever to the defensive team, or be pushed to the upper corners of the zone instead of one being directly in the middle at the draw.

There'd be a lot of traffic in front of the crease, but perhaps too much for the puck to really go through most of the time.

I think it'd be a decent experiment in a for fun league, but I dount that it helps.

I know you talk about pushing the blueline further too, but then do we need a blueline? The neutral zone would be pretty small

 

[North Cole]

Watching a game the other day got me thinking. Why do we have 2 faceoff circles in the defensive/offensive zones? What is the point?

Would it not be a simple but effective way too increase scoring by making one faceoff circle directly centered to the goalie? That way offensive players are better lined up for a direct shot. It would not make a huge impact to the game and offend traditionalists to much, but it would possibly increase scoring a tad.

If we did that, I would move back the blue line 3-4 inches as well.

Thoughts?

Originally I'm sure it's because they wanted to be more specific about choosing where to restart play, ie - closer to where the stoppage occurred. NHL has since adopted rules allowing teams to choose which side they want, so they can try to use it to an advantage if a guy is better or worse on one hand vs the other. Not sure if that's in all situations in the Dzone, or just powerplays.

One bonus of having extra circles is that it leaves less room for ads on the ice, not sure if we want to be creating more white space for the NHL haha.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Idk but the middle of the ice suggestion is just weird and tacky. I’m trying to imagine being the defensive center and what you’d be trying to do on faceoffs at that point

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

Why change for the sake of change?

 

[robertmac43]

It would definitely put a lot more value on winning faceoffs.

 

[2faded]

Fun has already gone up the highest it's been in 30 years, why do we need more?

Why not?

 

[Crescent Street]

Why not?

Pretty simple. Too much of something will lose it's appeal after a while, when it happens all of the time.

 

[Tanknomore]

Pretty simple. Too much of something will lose it's appeal after a while, when it happens all of the time.

I don't think it would be a drastic change. Little more scoring would be alright in my books. I think the blue line would still need to be moved back a bit as well

 

[Kane One]

Good point, I never thought abiut why there were left/right circles (even in the neutral zone, weird really!)

Geometrically wise though, it seems like the defensive team would be pushed in a more favorable position and closer to the blue line.

Offensive defensemen especially would be closer than ever to the defensive team, or be pushed to the upper corners of the zone instead of one being directly in the middle at the draw.

There'd be a lot of traffic in front of the crease, but perhaps too much for the puck to really go through most of the time.

I think it'd be a decent experiment in a for fun league, but I dount that it helps.

I know you talk about pushing the blueline further too, but then do we need a blueline? The neutral zone would be pretty small

It’s pretty simple. Before there were faceoff circles, they would have the faceoff in a completely arbitrary location near where the stoppage of play occurred.

That was then standardized into specified locations.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The faceoff dots were originally located in front of the nets, with no circles.

This is a Minneapolis Millers game at the Minneapolis Arena circa 1925. The dark line in the foreground is center ice.

This site has a fantastic visual breakdown of how the rink markings have changed over time. They have the NHL adding two faceoff circles in 1937-38.

Funny enough, the visual concept of having circles at each end was originally for penalty shots (more like free throws at the time) rather than for faceoffs. [edit: I just fact-checked this and there's good evidence for center ice faceoff circles at least as early as 1925.]

 

[Clouts]

This is a great point. I was recently wondering why we needed a full sheet. Wouldn’t half be better, make teams just clear the blue line to go on offence. This way the goalie is shared by both teams, facing double the shots and extreme exhaustion. Therefore, dramatically increasing scoring. You could even have a goalie from each team split the net for a game so the allegiance changes mid way through game. Also, increasing scoring.

 

[Section337]

Back in the stone age, when I used to ref / lines), face offs were not confined to the face off dots. I always hated when we had a face off anywhere other than the face off dots, particularly in the offensive zone, Always expected to take a slap shot in the side, knew I could cause more impact on the play and took longer to get into proper position.

Of course, this is not exactly what you are proposing, but I think it would be even worse for a linesman than what I experienced back in the old days.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Back in the stone age, when I used to ref / lines), face offs were not confined to the face off dots. I always hated when we had a face off anywhere other than the face off dots, particularly in the offensive zone, Always expected to take a slap shot in the side, knew I could cause more impact on the play and took longer to get into proper position.

Of course, this is not exactly what you are proposing, but I think it would be even worse for a linesman than what I experienced back in the old days.

This rule did not seem the slightest bit weird at the time, but any time I watch a game from before the 2000s it takes me off guard to see faceoffs held out in random places. The oddest ones are the ones just slightly inside the blue line, so the offensive team is in a very awkward position.

 

[Brodeur]

As a beer league goalie of 20 years, I would be interested how quickly pro goalies would be able to adjust. I know I use the faceoff dots to help my positioning for shots especially if I'm on top of my crease.

My home rink isn't regulation, so I've had some rough games when we've played tournaments at full sized rinks. My angles would be slightly off since I'd be used to being in a certain spot relative to the dots. It's slightly different, but there's usually an adjustment period for goalies coming over the big ice in Europe for similar reasons.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

It would definitely put a lot more value on winning faceoffs.

Cody Eakin is back in, baby!

Interesting idea, OP, I’d just be curious to see it. I’d imagine clean wins would become infinitely more valuable- if you can scoop it right to a player you immediately have a decent scoring chance, whereas having it on the sides as it is- you can still work your way into a high danger chance, but it’s rare to just quickly shoot for a goal- the shooting options are at least halved, and the goalie doesn’t have to move laterally right away as he’d have to with it in the center.

 

[dr robbie]

]

Umm... what is that creepy face looking thing above the goalie? Looks like Thomas the Train is about to crash the game.

 

[IranCondraAffair]

The faceoff dots were originally located in front of the nets, with no circles.

This is a Minneapolis Millers game at the Minneapolis Arena circa 1925. The dark line in the foreground is center ice.

This site has a fantastic visual breakdown of how the rink markings have changed over time. They have the NHL adding two faceoff circles in 1937-38.

Funny enough, the visual concept of having circles at each end was originally for penalty shots (more like free throws at the time) rather than for faceoffs. [edit: I just fact-checked this and there's good evidence for center ice faceoff circles at least as early as 1925.]

Honestly, I'd almost prefer a penalty shot than a powerplay. Powerplays drag out the game.

 

[McGarnagle]

Bring back the 1930s sideways faceoffs while we're at it

 

[haseoke39]

I kinda suspect it wouldn't be any more or less conducive to scoring, just change strategies a bit. I think the middle of the ice would be super clogged up, so you'd end up, actually, with a lot more far angle point shots because that's where the lanes would be.