Watch Brian Gionta's soccer header pass for Sabres vs. Ottawa (Video)

NHL teams are famous for kicking around a soccer ball before games. Occasionally, footie skills seep into gameplay, too, as was evidenced by Buffalo Sabres forward Brian Gionta’ brilliant header pass into the attacking zone in their game against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.

Behold, the offensive zone dump-in header:

Here it is, in glorious GIF form:

We’ve had a long legacy of soccer-style plays in the NHL, including a header pass from Daniel Sedin, header saves from Henrik Lundqvist and even attempted header goals. We also have a lot of diving.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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