## The Weak-Side Faceoff Pick
Set Piece · Modern Era, Vancouver Canucks
Operating like a choreographed football play, this offensive-zone sequence uses intentional winger blocks to instantly open a cross-ice passing lane.
### The Story
While hockey is primarily a game of chaotic, high-speed flow, faceoffs provide a rare moment of static organization. Smart teams weaponize these pauses, treating them like a line of scrimmage to run highly choreographed set pieces. The Weak-Side Faceoff Pick—perfected in the modern era by the Vancouver Canucks—does exactly this, using legal physical interference to manufacture a scoring chance within three seconds of the puck dropping.
Known as the "Besser-Miller Set," the play relies on attacking wingers temporarily acting like football offensive linemen. The instant the puck hits the ice, they drive into their defensive matchups, throwing "picks" or bumps to tie them up. Meanwhile, the center wins the draw to a defenseman and peels into the weak-side "quiet area" of the ice.
When the puck is quickly cycled back to that center, the defense naturally gravitates toward the puck carrier. This distraction, combined with the chaos of the winger blocks, creates a massive void in the defensive structure. One of the wingers—often Brock Boeser—slips away from his initial block and drifts into that open space, receiving a seamless cross-ice pass for an uncontested strike.
### How It Works
- The Center (e.g., J.T. Miller): Wins the faceoff cleanly straight back to the defenseman, then immediately peels backward into an unguarded "quiet area" on the weak side. - The Wingers: Drive forward the millisecond the puck drops, executing legal "picks" (physical blocks) to temporarily tie up opposing defenders. - The Defenseman: Collects the faceoff win at the blue line and immediately passes the puck back to the retreating center to draw defensive pressure. - The Scoring Winger (e.g., Brock Boeser): After throwing his initial block, releases from the traffic and drifts into newly opened space to receive a cross-ice pass from the center.
### Strengths
- Treats a faceoff like a football set piece, using planned, legal interference to instantly break the opponent's defensive shell. - Manufactures wide-open scoring lanes in under three seconds. - Unpredictable player movement causes absolute chaos for defenses expecting a standard faceoff battle.
### Weaknesses
- The entire play hinges on the center cleanly winning the puck backward; if the draw is tied up, the trigger fails. - A defensive center who wins the faceoff instantly neutralizes the sequence, potentially catching the attacking wingers completely out of position due to their aggressive early blocks.