Toronto Maple Leafs: Face-Offs And The Magic Of Unicorns

Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Babcock likes to talk about getting better at face-offs, as if it brings something of value simply by happening.

He’s not the only one. It’s a hot topic, and not just for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The problem, though, is that face-off wins by themselves are borderline as useful as plus/minus statistics.

Here’s a look at teams score-adjusted Fenwick, face-off percentage and points total since January 1st (prior to 12 March games).

It’s a closer connection between points and SAF, if you want something extremely simple. As a side note, it’s also worth noting how much bad luck Boston and LA have had in the points department

The quick and dirty reply for face-offs is that you…