The offensive face-off gives coaching staffs and players their only opportunity to implement static set plays, like those that occur in football. Teams should prepare their plays off ice first and then work to integrate these face-off plans into their practices. Once a month, take time in practice to run through what you want the players to do at each face-off dot. Doing this takes time and tends to slow the pace of practice, but roughly 60 face-offs occur in a game, which means 60 times to win or lose possession of the puck, so the effort is worth the time. In addition to all players going through the face-offs, the centers must work on the skill of taking the draw. Not much time is needed for a coach to do 50 reps with a center before or after practice, focusing on his technique. Centers should work on winning draws on the forehand, on the backhand, by tying up, and at times by touching the puck through to catch the opposition by surprise. Make sure that one of your coaches becomes an expert at teaching these face-offs skills. High-level hockey has changed in this area of the game. When Ryan Walter began to play in the NHL as a center man, both centers tried to cheat laterally by adjusting the position of their skates to their advantage. Today, the requirement that skates face north–south has changed the way that center men try to generate an advantage. The center should get his skates as close to the center dot as possible, forcing him to hold the stick in a lateral position instead of straight out in front of him. This lateral stick positioning maximizes the center man’s leverage and positioning to win the face-off....