Film Room: Adam Fox, and the art of the head fake
It doesn't get any better than the 2019-20 season for rookie defenders. Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, and Adam Fox finished first, second, and fourth in Calder voting, respectively. That seems impossible to top.
That trio of NCAA graduates made an immediate impact in the NHL, albeit each in their own, unique way. Makar's all about his skating and explosiveness, spearheading play forward on his stick; Hughes is more evasive than explosive, relying on twists, turns, and playmaking to rip apart the opposition.
Fox manipulates like the other two but lacks their skating ability. He relies even more on deception, particularly the head fake. Look one direction, go the other – the central tenet of manipulation. The head fake comes in many different forms: The quick shake, the look-off, and more subtle