NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Oasiz Wiesblatt draws in for a face-off in the first period of the Tigers 2-0 loss to the Calgary Hitmen on Mar. 26.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Hockey is a sport of battles and each game starts with one of the most important – the face-off.
Whether it be at centre ice, above the blue line, in the offensive or defensive end, a face-off win sets the tone of the play and which team gets possession.
Medicine Hat Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer says face-offs are extremely important and credits former Tigers forward Wayne Hamilton for helping current centremen.
“Starting with the puck on the power play, if you lose the draw there’s 20 seconds off your power play trying to break out. On the penalty kill, if you win it there’s 20 seconds you just killed off the kill,” Frazer said. “Wacey has been helping us out all year and if you’ve seen the progression, our centremen have gotten consistently better at them.”
When Logan Barlage lines up for a face-off, the 20-year-old’s mindset is to be the second one in the dot.
“… just come in late and mess the other guy’s timing up is probably the biggest thing,” Barlage said. “I always take draws on my backhand, I don’t put my stick on my forehand.”
The Humboldt product says he picked up the backhand-only style when he was 17 from Vegas Golden Knights prospect and former Lethbridge Hurricane Jake Leschyshyn.
He says he tries to learn something from every face-off opponent because he find’s it interesting how other players adapt their techniques.
Oasiz Wiesblatt also only takes back-handed draws and says he tries to get down as low as he can.
“Taller guys I try to get super low and just take away their hands, smaller guys are always harder guys to go against because they are always just a little more stockier,” Wiesblatt said.
The 5-foot-8 forward likes the one-on-one battle and says having good wingers who can help scoop up pucks is important.
“It’s one of the most underrated things a centreman needs; if we did 10 draws I would need probably nine of them for the wingers to come in,” Wiesblatt said. “It’s just way easier when they come in and it starts with offence.”
A big part of face-off preparation for Barlage is having a good relationship with the linesman. The Tigers’ veteran says being able to talk with officials and working to hold each other accountable helps win draws.
“You might get mad at them one game for something and they tell you the right way, then the next game if they try and go off of that you just say last game you said this,” Barlage said. “So he has to drop it a certain way or he has to do it exactly how he said. It’s holding him accountable and he holds me accountable as well. Each ref knows what they are in for every night ,and if they don’t then I’ll be letting them know.”
Owen MacNeil was acquired by the Tigers in September to fill out the middle of the lineup and for his face-off abilities. He’s been slotted alongside other centres in the latter half of the season which has allowed MacNeil to take draws on his strong side.
“If it’s on the left side I’ll take them, if it’s on the right those guys usually will just with their hands and it’s good if one of us is struggling the other can step in,” MacNeil said.
He says his favourite part of being tasked with taking face-offs is the same as Wiesblatt’s, winning the one-on-one competitions, especially the opening draw.
“If you’re winning your first battle then you’re setting the tone for the rest of the game,” MacNeil said.
