Getting tossed from the face-off circle

by sfg79 on Oct 17, 2011 4:21 PM EDT

During the Pens game on Saturday night, something caught my eye. After a long shift, the Sabres' 4th line iced the puck. When the face-off came back to our zone, Cody McCormick was set to take the face-off with Gaustad (by far our best guy on draws) out on the wing. After Cody got tossed and Gaustad stepped in, won the draw, the puck was cleared and the Sabres changed.

That got me wondering, did McCormick go in and get tossed on purpose to by the team an extra 20-25 seconds to rest? Is this a technique that is used often in games and I am just not paying enough attention?

I could not think of why else Gaustad would not be on the draw from the start..

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Interesting thing to notice.

I would say thats a possability, but a pretty ballsy one, because if Im not mistaken… if Goose got tossed afterwards, its a penalty.

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by bflo on Oct 17, 2011 5:01 PM EDT reply actions

I didn’t even know that. Can’t imagine that get called very often.

by Frank Reich Revolution on Oct 18, 2011 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions

Yea, I remember the Canadiens getting called for one of those penalties against the Sabres a few seasons ago.

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by FloridaBuffalo on Oct 19, 2011 8:02 PM EDT up reply actions

I noticed this too.

Actually, it’s the second or third time I’ve seen them do this. Nice insight on the potential motive.

by lassathrax on Oct 17, 2011 7:20 PM EDT reply actions

To me it seemed they were getting tossed from the circle all weekend.

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by Ogre39666 on Oct 17, 2011 7:53 PM EDT reply actions

Is this a technique that is used often in games and I am just not paying enough attention?

Its quite common after icings.

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by Ubiquitous on Oct 18, 2011 10:43 AM EDT reply actions

Very perceptive

I’d say its highly likely that was the case. It’s not hard to get yourself tossed from the dot, so that may very well have been the tactic to stall for rest. Also, since it is a penalty as Bflo said above if the 2nd player gets tossed, the linesmen and referees almost NEVER toss the 2nd man, so he can most likely be more aggressive knowing full well he can probably get away with more (also interesting to note that with Goose on the ice, McCormick could be overly aggressive knowing that if he gets tossed (not intentionally) that Goose can step right in, a big advantage to having 2 centers on the ice at once).

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by willgarr15 on Oct 18, 2011 2:44 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Completely agree

Almost certainly did it to buy time. The other thing I have noticed is Pominville taking all the draws for his line. Adam is the center, but Pominville takes the draws. I don’t know if this is due to experience, and because he is more defensively responsible after a draw, or if he just is better at winning the thing.

by Zack Holiskey on Oct 19, 2011 4:47 PM EDT up reply actions

What is the rule for tossing someone out of the faceoff?

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by thefourwinds on Oct 20, 2011 12:10 PM EDT reply actions