Maybe he shouldn’t even play center. That’s how many people commented on Filip Chytil in the past, pointing out, among other things, his poor bull statistics. However, the Czech hockey player of the New York Rangers worked on his big weakness.
Chtil collected three points (1+2) in the first six games of the current NHL season. More interestingly, however, he won 25 of 49 bulls and achieved a solid 51 percent success rate. Previously, he failed in this discipline.
When he first tasted the NHL in the season five years ago, he did not even win 37 percent of the ball, which is an extremely poor number for a center. After that, there was a gradual improvement up to about 43 percent in the last regular season. But that was not enough, because a good success rate starts at fifty percent.
He caught a weak number so he didn’t solve it. He simply continued the established practice. He practiced with the club’s skills coach, Mark Ciaccio, who threw pucks in front of him, and added practice faceoffs against other Rangers centers after practices.
“Maybe I focused more on the overall overview, on where exactly the puck goes and so on, but otherwise it’s just a process. It depends on hard work and additions after team training. It’s finally paying off,” the 23-year-old Czech was quoted as saying by Newsday.
It is also important that Chytil started his sixth season in an overseas competition. He claims that during that time he observed how many of his opponents approach bulla. So he knows what to expect from them.
“I think Fil is doing a great job so far this year. He’s really worked on the throw-ins,” praised teammate Barclay Goodrow, who is six years older than Chytila. “He seems a lot more confident. I think when he goes for the puck, he’s sure he’s going to win before the puck hits the ice. I think that’s the most important thing.”
Naturally, Chytil’s progress has also been noted by Rangers coach Gerard Gallant, who is sending the Czech center forward more often than last year. “He is strong on the puck, wins pucks and generally does all the things that are important in hockey. He is doing great,” praised the coach.
He caught sight of them, despite losing young teammates Alexis Lafrenier and Kaap Kakka, who “fled” to him in the first two formations. Currently, in addition to the second power forward, he leads the third line with Goodrow and Vitalij Kravcov.
He retired at the beginning of the sixth match because he was elbowed in the head by an opponent, but he is listed as “day-to-day”, which means that he should not be among the injured for a long time.
In the past, many, including journalist Larry Brooks, claimed that Chytil should play more on the wing, where he actually spent some time. They criticized him for insufficient game overview or weak throw-ins.
He now has an inch better success rate than star partner Mika Zibanejad, trailing team specialist Vincent Trocheck by roughly three percent. In some situations, specifically in the offensive zone and on the power play, he remained under fifty percent successful, but overall he took a step forward, which his teammates appreciate.
“When you’re losing faceoff after faceoff, you’re constantly chasing the puck,” Goodrow said of why losing a faceoff is frustrating. “It’s a bit of an underestimated stat, because it’s the bulls that will set the tone for your rotation.”
In order for Chytil to be considered a good throw-in player, he must maintain at least a half success rate. Unloaded specialists then win in at least 55 percent of cases. In the current NHL, they include, for example, Boston’s Patrice Bergeron.
Historically, Rod Brind’Amour and Bobby Holík shined, but the overall king is the relatively little-known hockey player Yanic Perreault, who has won just over 61 percent of face-offs since 1997, when the league began measuring statistics. In one season, he even soared over an incredible 65 percent. After his playing career, Chicago hired him as a bullpen expert.
“There’s a lot of details that go into a bullpen,” he told Sportsnet years ago. “It’s about your position, timing, working with the linesman and how you get to the circle and how you know your opponent. It also depends on whether it’s a throw-in in the offensive or defensive zone,” he added, adding that it’s important to have more options up your sleeve and be able to win with your forehand, backhand or with the help of your foot.
“I think the bulls are getting more and more weight,” the Canadian continued. “Until the end of the 1990s, they weren’t looked at that much, but with the advent of statistics, that changed. Today, everything in hockey is analyzed and many teams are trying to improve on bulls.”
Among them is the Rangers, who have a reputation as one of the worst face-off teams. The last time they had at least half the success rate was nine years ago. They are currently at 53.4. Also thanks to Chytil.
