Faceoff strategies change according to the size and strength of a player. If a smaller player gets into a power contest with a guy 40 pounds heavier, chances are he'll lose.

If you want to win, you have to play to your strength.

	Utilizing his size and strength, Joe Thornton opts to muscle his way through faceoffs.

At only 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, Yanic Perreault is one of the better faceoff guys in the league. He's not a big, strong guy, but he has quick hands and gets down nice and low for leverage. Perreault is good with his feet, so if someone ties him up, he's able to get his feet in there and kick the puck back.

Then there's a big guy like Boston's Joe Thornton. At 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Thornton will take your stick and spin, and use his feet. Because he's so strong, he doesn't use much finesse -- he's pretty much all about brute strength and power.

Personally, my strength was quickness. I wasn't very good with my feet, so I would try and get down nice and low and be as quick as I possibly could. Carolina's Ron Francis is the first guy who I saw use his feet on a consistent basis and excel -- he's very good at it.

Before the new rule changes, there was a lot of jawing between both centermen and the linesman, mainly about the other guy cheating. I was taught to get into position early. And as soon as the linesman turns to set up the other guy, cheat as much as possible. By cheating, I mean moving your feet to get a little more angle and such. Since the lines have been painted onto the ice, it's been a little tougher to cheat. But generally, if you can get the other guy to straighten out just a little bit, it's a big advantage for you.

Now, with the hurry-up rules in effect, there's not as much time to calcuate and cheat -- which is probably what the league was hoping for. Now, you have to get in, get your stick down and, before you know it, the puck is in the middle. There's no time for players to move around anymore. Guys need to be prepared and know where they're going before they get in there.

So, there's a bit of strategy to faceoffs, but overall success is fairly unpredictible. There are certain players you're more confident about beating than others. It's funny, though, because it varies from game to game. Some games you could absolutely dominate someone and think that you have him pegged. Then, the next time you face each other, you never touch the puck against him.

Generally, as a left-handed shot, I had a tougher time against left-handed centermen. Thornton gave me a hard time. And Adam Oates was also extremely difficult to face off against -- Oates is one of the best. He has good position and quick hands and gets his stick in the middle of the circle very quickly. Oates' numbers have been so good for so long. There's not a lot of tricks with him. He simply knows what he's doing when he gets in there. He'll approach every faceoff the same way, and he'll beat you every time.

Ray Ferraro is a hockey analyst for ESPN. He retired from an 18-year NHL career after the 2001-02 season.