Friday Fun – The Top 20 Faceoff Beatdowns in 2009-10
igloodreams | Jul 30, 2010 | Comments 0
This is a list, sorted by winning percentage, of the top 20 lopsided faceoff match-ups from the 2009-10 season. In order to make the list, there had to be 20 or more faceoffs between the two players during the 2009-10 season, because I wanted guys that had a chance to get familiar with each other. It also goes without saying that while there is an individual component to faceoffs, it is also highly dependent on the team around the center.
Here’s the list, with some commentary afterwards.
| Wins | Losses | Win % | Winner | Loser |
| 18 | 4 | 82% | 19 ZAJAC | 12 STAAL |
| 27 | 6 | 82% | 26 STASTNY | 10 HORCOFF |
| 16 | 4 | 80% | 11 BETTS | 12 STAAL |
| 28 | 8 | 78% | 21 NIEDERMAYER | 12 STAAL |
| 20 | 6 | 77% | 7 TKACHUK | 11 MADDEN |
| 20 | 6 | 77% | 91 GOMEZ | 11 STAAL |
| 16 | 5 | 76% | 42 BACKES | 11 KOPITAR |
| 22 | 7 | 76% | 18 RICHARDS | 19 BACKSTROM |
| 22 | 7 | 76% | 8 PAVELSKI | 63 RIBEIRO |
| 21 | 7 | 75% | 17 CARTER | 21 NIEDERMAYER |
| 17 | 6 | 74% | 25 BELANGER | 33 SEDIN |
| 22 | 8 | 73% | 11 BETTS | 80 ANTROPOV |
| 27 | 10 | 73% | 11 STAAL | 91 TAVARES |
| 16 | 6 | 73% | 11 LEGWAND | 10 HORCOFF |
| 16 | 6 | 73% | 84 GRABOVSKI | 14 PLEKANEC |
| 16 | 6 | 73% | 11 LEGWAND | 63 RIBEIRO |
| 37 | 14 | 73% | 12 FISHER | 14 PLEKANEC |
| 18 | 7 | 72% | 50 VERMETTE | 19 ARNOTT |
| 18 | 7 | 72% | 19 TOEWS | 43 HELM |
| 18 | 7 | 72% | 15 LOMBARDI | 11 KOIVU |
- Eric Staal in on losing end of three in the top 4? Ouch.
- Mike Fisher beating Tomas Plekanec THIRTY-SEVEN times? That has to hurt. Maybe it’s time to check for penalties committed by Plekanec against Fisher (like roughing calls).
- Transitivity Part 1: Niedermayer > Eric Staal and Carter > Niedermayer so is Carter > Eric Staal? Um… no – Jeff Carter and Eric Staal only met 9 times in the faceoff circle, with Staal winning the duels 6-3.
- Transitivity Part 2: Gomez > Jordan Staal and Jordan Staal > Tavares so is Gomez > Tavares? Yes! Not much of a beatdown, however. Gomez was 11-8 against Tavares.
- It might be interesting to see if there’s any correlation between faceoff success and game results for teams that depend on puck possession.
Filed Under: NHL
