TAMPA – The art of the draw requires a different stroke of the brush this season.
The artists of the faceoff circle this season must tweak their craft as the NHL looks to crackdown on faceoff violations to curb the amount of “cheating’’ that has crept too much into things before the puck gets dropped.
Players were angling their skates, set up outside of the t-markings on the ice. They were pushing forward, leaning in while trying to gain a positional advantage. Players would end up touching helmet-to-helmet before the puck was dropped, which started to create a safety hazard for the linesmen.
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