​The whistle blew, and Andrew McMeekin struck first for the Cannons. He won the opening faceoff, chased down the loose ball, and unleashed a two-point shot that rattled off the pipe, marking his debut faceoff as a Boston Cannon. On the sideline, Cannons head coach Brian Holman stood and watched something unfold that he had spent decades telling himself didn’t matter as much as everything else in the game.
You can ask anyone who’s ever played for me or coached with me over the years, Holman would say, and you’ll hear the same refrain. I don’t worry too much about the faceoff game. For most of his coaching career, he believed that the real determinants of success came after the draw—the moments that followed the initial possession. And then McMeekin arrived.
The former Princeton Tiger has done more than win faceoffs for the Cannons. He’s shifted a coaching mindset that had long given limited weight to the specialized role of the faceoff. My fear about faceoff specialists was that you could win the draw but not handle the ball well, and you’d end up throwing it away. So what’s the big deal about winning the faceoff? McMeekin has compelled me to rethink that entirely. He has had such an impact on our team and on me personally.
In just three games, McMeekin has earned Holman’s trust. It’s not only about winning matchups; it’s also about what Holman has observed beyond the X’s and O’s on game day. He comes up with a weekly plan that is so detailed and thorough that I find myself stepping back and thinking, I’ve got to get out of here. Too much stuff. Holman jokes with a smile, recognizing that McMeekin’s preparation is almost overwhelming in its precision.
That preparation has translated into results. McMeekin has claimed 58 percent of his faceoffs in his first three games with the Cannons, a mark that eclipses the team’s best faceoff percentage since 2019. More crucially, those extra possessions have fed an offense that seems to be finding its rhythm in recent weeks. The team has benefited from the repeatable advantage of winning clean possession, and the Cannons have started to capitalize on those chances.
For a coach who spent his entire career convinced that faceoffs were just one small piece of the larger puzzle, McMeekin’s impact has become a clear demonstration that a single specialist, if properly utilized, can alter the way a team plays. This isn’t just about the numbers; it’s about the broader strategic leverage that a dominant faceoff man can provide—more possessions, more offensive opportunities, and a shift in the mental approach to an area once treated as merely situational.
Holman’s perspective isn’t new to those who followed McMeekin’s collegiate career at Princeton. The undrafted rookie left Princeton as the program’s all-time leader in faceoff wins (698) and ground balls (446, a record that underscored more than winning draws) and, more tellingly, his multifaceted impact on the game. He wasn’t only about faceoffs—he contributed game-winning goals, important assists, and crucial points that helped Princeton triumph on big stages. In addition to individual achievements, his contributions helped Princeton capture its first national championship since 2001, a reminder that a great faceoff specialist can influence a team’s trajectory far beyond the initial possession.
That resume mattered to Holman, and it matters even more now as he watches McMeekin translate a storied college career into professional impact. The buzz around the Cannons intensified when they highlighted the successful conversion of faceoff wins into sustained offensive momentum, the kind of rhythm that can define a season.
As the game against Notre Dame unfolded, with McMeekin already proving his ability to control the flow, the spotlight wasn’t merely on the numbers; it was on the strategic shift that his presence has sparked. Where Holman once saw the faceoff as a minor piece of the puzzle, he now recognizes that the right faceoff specialist can reshape a team’s approach, tempo, and confidence. McMeekin’s influence extends beyond wins on paper; it’s visible in the way the Cannons execute, create chances, and maintain pressure.
And so, as McMeekin continues to pave the way—winning balls, fueling the offense, and guiding Holman with his comprehensive game plans—the Cannons are redefining how they value the faceoff. The transformation isn’t just about one victory or a single three-game hot stretch; it’s about a philosophy recalibrated by a player who can turn a positional advantage into a team-wide capability. If, as Holman suggests, the faceoff is a doorway to greater possession and better offensive rhythm, then McMeekin is the key that has finally unlocked it for Boston.