March 20--Faceoffs happen so often and so quickly each game that fans might not give them a second thought.
Thus faceoffs have been like an invisible strength for the Hawks the last few seasons as they finished fifth in the league in each of the last two. Now, however, they have turned into a weakness.
After Friday's victory over the Jets, the Hawks ranked 21st among the 30 NHL teams in faceoff percentage (49.4).
The only time the Hawks finished worse during the Joel Quenneville era was 2008-09.
"If you're going to play a possession game, faceoffs always come down to starting with the puck," forward Andrew Desjardins said. "It creates more possession. Sometimes it's as simple as that. You win more draws, you have the puck more."
The Hawks have been above 50 percent every season since then but are likely to finish below that mark heading into the playoffs.
In spite of that, the Hawks have been able to carve out one of the best records in the West. In part, that's because Jonathan Toews ranks seventh in the league in faceoff percentage among centers.
"Johnny always holds his end of the bargain up," Quenneville said. "But the way we look at it, it's not just the centerman's responsibility. We can be strong on the line, more competitive when the puck is coming."
Contributing to the Hawks' relative weakness in this area is that Teuvo Teravainen, who recently moved to center from playing a wing, and Artem Anisimov are centering two of the Hawks' four lines. Neither of them has been particularly adept at faceoffs.
In Teravainen's case, he has taken just 201 this season and has won just 42.8 percent of them. Among players who have taken at least 150 faceoffs, Teravainen ranks 161 out of 177. Moreover, Teravainen plays on a line with Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise, neither of whom ever has taken faceoffs with any consistency. So it's up to Teravainen to mix it up on the dot during his shifts. Against the Flyers on Wednesday night, Teravainen won just 2 of 11 faceoffs.
Anisimov has been a more consistent bugaboo on the dot. Among players who have taken at least 800 faceoffs, a list that includes 62 players, Anisimov has the third-worst percentage at 44.1.
"He shows signs when all of a sudden he's back or he's above .500 and he's holding his own, sharing in his responsibility at least getting 50 (percent)," Quenneville said.
It's important for Anisimov to win faceoffs considering his usual linemates of Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane can be scoring threats if they start with the puck.
"When that line starts with the puck, it's very dangerous," Quenneville said. "I think we're looking for some improvement across the board though in that area."
It's simple. Having the puck is better than not.
chine@tribpub.com
