"There are set faceoff plays that you do in the defensive zone, the offensive zone and that's something that you usually talk about with your wingers," Damphousse said. "You usually play with the same guys and I tell them what I want and that certainly helps.

"A lot of the faceoffs are won or lost by the wingers," Damphousse said. "There's a lot of ties in faceoffs and in order to make the difference your wingers come in and help you out and take the puck and get it back to your defensemen. They have to be quick to respond to where the puck is going. If we're in the offensive zone sometimes they'll set up a shot. If I win it I want the guy in a certain position to shoot on net right away and I know from experience if I win it clean where it's going to come out, so I position my winger in the offensive zone so he can take a shot sometimes."

"Some players like to go forward with the puck, while some guys like to go behind. So communication is huge," Taylor said. "You have to let the guys that are on the ice with you on your team know where you're going with the puck so they can react. Lots of time you might lose a draw. The opponent might win the faceoff through his legs and if your winger knows what you were going to do and sees what happened he can get right through there and get the puck and get it back to your defenseman and turn that lost draw into a win. Every guy on the ice is just as important as a centerman on a draw."

Another key element in faceoffs these days is patience. Players must keep their cool in the circle before the puck is dropped because the new faceoff rules that were put into effect last season don't allow the centers to jostle for position as was the case in the past. As a matter of fact, if a player does make contact with his opponent or jumps the gun before the puck is dropped, he'll get tossed out of the faceoff pronto. This ejection from the circle will also put his team in jeopardy of playing a man down.

"It used to be where linesmen would let you get away with a lot more, but now the rule is cut and dry. You hit, you're out of the circle. Then when the second guy comes in he has to be careful because if he hits the guy or jumps then you have a penalty," Taylor explained. "So it's changed in that aspect."

While the rules may have changed a bit for faceoffs, the players still have to rely on their abilities when they take their position. Each successful forward brings a unique style to the circle, combining skills such as quickness, strength, timing, knowledge of the official and/or opponent and confidence when he's called upon to take a faceoff.

"Faceoffs are definitely a combination of quickness, strength and timing, but to me the most important thing on a faceoff is confidence," -- Tampa Bay forward Tim Taylor

"Faceoffs are definitely a combination of quickness, strength and timing, but to me the most important thing on a faceoff is confidence," said Taylor, who won 57.8 of his draws last season. "If you go into a faceoff, you might be getting beat by a guy that's 35 percent throughout the whole year, but he's beating you and he's in your mind. Now you might be going in thinking and become antsy and start to jump instead of relaxing. You're not doing the things you normally do.

"I find it's really important early in the game whether the faceoff is in the neutral zone, your end or the offensive zone is to try to win every one off that particular player you're matched up against because down the road in the game when there's an important draw and you're against him again you'll have the edge because you've won all these draws. He's going to have to try something different -- something that's he's not used to doing -- so you'll have him beat mentally. You'll have the advantage when it comes to a big draw."

"Strength, quickness and timing all play a role," Damphousse agreed. "But you also have to read very well when the faceoff is coming down. The best players are very quick and very strong and they mostly have one power move and that's how they get successful. You look at (Yanic) Perreault, who's consistently one of the best, and (Joe) Nieuwendyk; they don't have too many moves. They just stick with the ones they're comfortable with and they're very good at it."

Namely the art of the draw.