Blackhawks not as bad as expected at faceoffs, largely thanks to Jason Dickinson

Back in October, it seemed likely the Blackhawks would be the NHL’s worst team in faceoffs this season. It even seemed conceivable they could break the all-time record for lowest faceoff winning percentage.

At this point, however, those predictions can safely be crossed out. The Hawks’ faceoff woes have not proved to be nearly as dire as imagined.

They entered Thursday ranked 30th in the league with a 46.3% faceoff percentage, slightly above the Coyotes (45.5%) and Sabres (45.4%) this season and well above the 1997-98 Lightning (who hold the record low of 44.1%). They’re nowhere near good at faceoffs, but faceoffs are also nowhere near their worst team stat.

And over the last few months, they’ve actually been rather respectable at the dot. Since Jan. 16, they’ve won 49.0% of faceoffs — tied for 19th in the league.

“It has come up, for sure, in the second half,” coach Luke Richardson said. “Guys have worked on it themselves and individually. We’ve had discussions about some tie-up situations . . . [where] we’ve got to get more aggressive with our wingers and defensemen to help out.”

It’s worth noting the Hawks were initially rolling out three de facto rookies — who typically struggle mightily with faceoffs at first — as their top three centers: Connor Bedard, Lukas Reichel and Cole Guttman. But that’s no longer the case. Reichel didn’t last long at center, and Guttman didn’t last long in the NHL.

Instead, veteran center Jason Dickinson has become the Hawks’ go-to faceoff guy. Dickinson has taken 1,137 draws this season and won 50.4% of them, whereas nobody else has taken even 500.

Bedard has predictably struggled, winning 38.9% of his 488 draws. Beyond him, Nick Foligno has won 53.0% of his 383 draws, MacKenzie Entwistle has won 43.4% of his 364 draws and Tyler Johnson has won 44.4% of his 331 draws. Reichel has taken 198 draws — eighth-most on the team — and won 43.4% of them.

For Dickinson, this represents a breakthrough year. He won just 47.7% of his faceoffs last season and less than that in each of his first four full NHL seasons.

Dickinson believes that stems partially from accumulated experience, partially from all-around confidence and partially from a new strategy predicated on more forward motion toward his opponent. Since Jan. 16, in line with the Hawks’ teamwide improvement, he has won 55.6% of his draws.

“I find, when I lose faceoffs, it’s because I sat back on my heels and I’m stationary and I’m not getting my whole body into the dot,” Dickinson said. “[Now] I’m going into faceoffs dictating what I want to do and making the other centerman adjust to me.”

Dickinson feels optimistic about his teammates’ growth, too. He mentioned how Entwistle has strengthened his sweeping motion when the puck hits the ice and how Bedard has adjusted to the difficulty of NHL faceoffs, even if his stats don’t reflect it yet.

“[At the] beginning of the year, [Connor] was sitting back too much,” Dickinson said. “He was too light on his stick. Guys would outmuscle him too easily. Now I’m noticing — similar to me — he’s getting over the dot and he’s sweeping really hard.

“The thing with him is learning these guys’ tendencies so that, when he does make those changes, he knows what the guy is going to try next.”

Peter K. Afriyie/AP Photos

Inside faceoff strategy

Few NHL players approach the game as intelligently and analytically as Dickinson does, and faceoffs are no exception. He loves breaking down the minutiae.

So while it’s true that his faceoff improvement this season has, in general, stemmed from more forward motion and dictating what he wants to do, there’s a lot more to it than that — as he can explain.

“I don’t want to get kicked out [of the draw] in the ‘D’-zone, so I’m going to be a little bit more cautious, but I also have to think about winning that faceoff because it’s obviously an offensive opportunity [for the opponent] if I lose it,” he said. “There’s different moments where I’ve got to attack it differently.

“And there’s certain players, as well, that I can make a read on: ‘I know he does this every single time, so I can change it up on him and confuse him.’ There’s even times where I’ll lose a couple. Maybe [that’s] not on purpose, but I’ll let them think that I’m just going to keep doing the same thing over and over all night — and when the faceoff comes to be a really big one, I’m going to change it up.”

Hawks development coach Yanic Perreault is the first faceoff-specific advisor Dickinson has ever had, and he credits Perreault for helping him improve particularly on draws on the right side of the ice. That’s his weak side as a left-handed shot, since he has to take those on his forehand rather than his backhand — the easier way.

But the largest chunk of faceoff strategy comes from psychology, not technique.

“A lot of it is out-thinking your opponent, because no two guys really take faceoffs the same,” he said. “There’s similarities and typical movements, but even without those movements, there’s small variations.”

Islanders center Bo Horvat, for example, wins draws with brute strength and clever angling of his stick blade. He barely sweeps the puck at all, which Dickinson learned during their overlap on the Canucks.

“He knows that he’s strong and he’s got a long blade, so when he moves a certain way against lefties, I end up riding the puck off his blade and it goes backward for him,” Dickinson said. “You don’t have to move a whole lot — you can let the [other] guy win the puck off [for] you — if you’re strong enough in the dot.”

Dickinson has given that advice to Bedard, who is pretty strong himself, and seen him try it out. It could end up being the key for the rookie in the future.

Penguins center Sidney Crosby, one of this generation’s most dominant faceoff-takers, employs a totally different approach. Whereas most players move their hands lower on their stick for faceoffs (to get more leverage), Crosby moves his hands higher.

“Not many guys can win faceoffs like that, but his timing is just perfect,” Dickinson said. “He hits the puck before you even have a chance to find it. . . . And then it’s a psychological thing because, although that’s what he usually does, one time he’s going to spin his whole body through you.”

This ocean of knowledge and eagerness to share it represents one of the many reasons the Hawks gave Dickinson his two-year contract extension. The Hawks aren’t going to become an above-average faceoff team — the way they were for years with Jonathan Toews in the fold — anytime soon, but Dickinson’s presence should help them gradually improve over time.