Checking up on hockey

On Wednesday, I taught the class some things about hockey and how to refer to certain terms in the sport. Hockey is made up of three periods. It has its own league called the National Hockey League, which can be referred to as NHL on all references, and the league has its own subdivisions. When referencing a specific subdivision, the division must be capitalized, such as the Central Division of the Western Conference. If you are just writing division, simply write, the division without capitalizing the word. I also mentioned that one accomplishment in hockey is the hat trick, which is when a player has scored three goals in one game.

But when I talked to the class, one of the terms I focused on was face off and faceoff. Face off is an interesting verb because it can be used in reference to hockey and other things, such as politicians. The example I found was in a headline that said "Israeli party rivals face off in power bid." When the word faceoff is used as a verb, it is always two separate words.

However, if faceoff is used as a noun or adjective, it is one word. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, the noun faceoff means "a method of beginning play (as in hockey or lacrosse) in which two opponents face each other and attempt to gain control of a puck or ball dropped or placed between them." In essence, the noun faceoff can only be referred to in hockey of lacrosse (remember this for the quiz). So, if I were to use faceoff in a sentence, I would say, "The faceoff is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m."