How is a game of hockey started?

just like any other game of hockey... with a face off... if there is no one to drop the puck then the way it usually goes down is players in the faceoff agree to say a phrase and with each Word they tap there sticks off the ground and then with each others sticks over top of the ball/puck. The most common thing to say is NHL... the players tap sticks on each letter N-H-L and after the sticks tap on the L both players can try and take the ball/puck.