Ceremonial face-offs happen so often that calling them ceremonial seems like hyperbole.
Whether they’re ex-players or community members or kids or service dogs or whatever, there’s a better than 50/50 chance the game you’re going to will have a special face-off before the game’s real face-off. During (what we thought would be) the Islanders final season at Nassau Coliseum in 2015, it seemed like every game had some special person connected to the old barn dropping a puck. I myself took in half a dozen games that year and saw Jonathan Toews, Sidney Crosby, Patrik Elias and David Backes all take ceremonial face-offs with John Tavares and some Islanders legend.