Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How's your passing game? Without it, it's like being in a boat in the water without a paddle. You could have a great skating team, but if the passing is bad, they might as well play tennis. So why don’t players pass?
I have found the reason why players don’t pass the puck is because;
1. They are afraid that the player they are passing to will screw it up somehow. Or
2, they are afraid that they will not get the puck back. A good friend of mine, Claude Lemieux, told me a very important rule that he learned from two Russian players that he played with in the NHL. It’s a very simple rule.
He said; “If I pass de puck it to you, you pass it back!
You see, advancing or gaining real estate is done by skating and moving the puck up the ice. Then you get to the brick wall, the defensemen.
However, overcoming this can be done by simply placing the defenseman into a two on one situation. Which means, I pass it to you, you pass it back to me and we over come the defensemen and we advance.
Passing is so important, especially when it comes time to passing the puck out of your defensive zone. The transition from defense to offense is the most important part of the game. One bad pass in your defensive zone and you're toast.
When the other team has the puck, how many defensemen are on the ice on your team? Answer: 5
When the other team has the puck, it is the responsibility of each player on the line to regain control of the puck, not just the defenseman.
So, when I say 5 defenseman, that doesn't mean that the three forwards turn and start skating backwards like a defensemen.
There are really two types of defensive units on the ice when the other team has control of the puck.
The first is the actual defensive unit that has a right and a left defenseman. The second is a "Backchecking" unit. This backchecking unit doesn't mean that you go out and check someone on the back.
It means that you have a man coverage in your skating lane and you close or cover passing lanes that open when the other team has control of the puck.
The team that controls the puck the most....wins! This is why it is important to control the puck. Don't give the puck away to the other team under pressure. Turn overs can kill a team.
If you are being pressured, Don't just dump the puck into the attacking zone, send the puck back to the defensemen and regroup.
Once your defenseman picks up the puck in the corner (the strong side) he needs to exit the zone to the weak side.
Strong side is where the puck is. Weak side is the side where the puck is not.
So the defenseman needs to exit the puck to the weak side. The reason for this is the "Three Man Rule."
First man: Takes the Body!
Second man: Takes the Puck!
Third man: In the Slot!
Generally, when the puck gets dumped into the corner by the attacking team, they are going to want it back. Controlling the puck in the corner is where games are won or lost.
At is point, this is the start of your defensive breakout and your defenseman must have there act together.
The first thing they need to do is to rush into the corner and pull the puck away from the board without stopping.
Second, they need to approach the board straight on and at the last moment make a small "C" motion to pull the puck away from the boards.
Once they have the puck on there stick, they need to keep there head up and watch for apposing players.
As they skate behind the net with the puck they need to see if there winger is set up on the board at the hash mark.
If the player is there....Pass the Puck to him! And pass it tape to tape!
The is known as the "Transition", the point between defense and offense.
So, in the last coaching tip, we talked about "Transition." This is the transition from defense to offense.
This is the point where team's break down. Your defenseman needs to read and react to the attacking player and delivery the puck to his team mate under pressure.
Now, there are a couple of ways to get that puck over there to the winger. One, is "Tape to Tape." The other is, send it around the board to the waiting winger.
Now, the defenseman must wait or time it, to make sure that his team mate is set up at the hash mark. If the defenseman sends it around without looking, the puck can bypass his team mate and head out to the attacking defenseman at the point.
If the team mate is not there at the hash mark, the defenseman needs to turn up ice and look for the receiving player cutting across or overloading the zone for puck support.
If the defenseman does pass the puck to the waiting winger that is set up on the hash marks, that winger need to be aware of attacking players, placing him under pressure.
If he is getting ready to be checked, just pass the puck back to the defenseman and have the defenseman move up ice on the attack. Have the winger fall back and take up the defensive position until he can read and react to the defenseman coming back to his position.
The Eight Second Rule....
So it goes like this. You only have "Eight Seconds" to clear the puck out of your defensive zone. Any longer then that, you run the chance of the puck going into your net.
Check out the diagram below:
So, at Zero seconds, this is the point in which the attacking team dumps the puck into your zone.
At 2 Seconds, your defenseman will turn to get the puck.
At 4 Seconds, your defenseman will reach the corner to retrieve the puck.
At 5 Seconds, your defenseman will turn and head to the weak side of the zone behind the net.
At 6 Seconds, your defenseman will look to see if his team mate is set up on hash marks.
At 7 Seconds, your defenseman will start the "transitional" pass.
At 8 seconds, if he misses the pass or there's a bad transition, the puck is kept in the zone.....Goal!
The whole purpose of the "Neutral Zone Trap" is to make the attacking team cough up the puck and dump it into the attacking zone, thus making the attacking team go in and regain control of the puck in the defensive zone...if you're lucky.
In this case, the trap starts at the skating lanes. Here, the left winger on the attacking team heads up ice and receives the pass from the center.
The centerman on the defending team, angles the attacking left winger towards the boards and his right winger.
This will place the puck carrier in a two on one situation, forcing the puck carrier to pass it or dump the puck into the zone, making it easy for the defenseman to swing around, pick up the puck and break it out.
Remember, the team that controls the puck the most.....wins! The team that has turn-overs....loses!
Coaching Tip # 16 - Over coming the Neutral Zone Trap
In order to overcome the Neutral Zone Trap, you need to have one main rule to follow...
Good things come to those that wait.
Advancing into the attacking zone is like a General asking his troops to capture the flag at the top of the hill.
When advancing onto the hill, you want to attack in numbers for support and not just one guy at a time.
However, hockey players have a tendency to think that it is easy to give an assault on goal 1 on 3. One forward, attacking two defenseman and a goalie. They find themselves out numbered and undermanned.
That's what so cool about the trap. It moves the on coming puck carrier towards the boards in the neutral zone and forces the puck carrier into a 2 on 1 situation, pressuring the puck carrier to dump the puck.
Here in this example you will see the defenseman moving up on the play in the first phase of the attack. Sometimes you will see the defenseman bringing the puck up the ice and out of the defensive zone to start the play.
As the defenseman starts to enter the neutral zone, he or she drops the puck back to the left winger behind him on the boards.
This will allow the defenseman to penetrate the neutral zone behind the first line of defense in the trap.
You will see that the defending center will start to force the defenseman towards the boards by angling him off the puck towards the waiting winger. At this point, is when the puck needs to go back to his winger behind him along the boards.
In phase two, you will see that the attacking defenseman needs to head towards the attacking blue line and turn towards open ice.
This is to allow his attacking centerman to enter the skating lane that the defenseman just left.
Notice that the right winger is coming over to overload the zone. This is done to help protect that side if something bad happens and to allow the defenseman to enter his skating lane.
Once the right winger comes across the top of the defending zone, the puck move to the weak side of the rink in the direction of the attacking defenseman cycling in the neutral zone.
Once the puck comes across, the right winger turns up ice towards the neutral zone and receives the pass from his defenseman. The right winger can headman the puck up to the players that have penetrated the second line of defense.
In some programs, a "Two Line Pass" is still called. In other places, it is not and you can two line pass until you are blue in the face. Different places around the world still call "Two Line Pass" like it should be. So I teach it to all my players just in case we go play there.
I like to teach my players not to dump and chase, but to regroup and then attack again.
Remember, the team that controls the puck the most..."Wins!"
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Coaching Tip # 11 - Regaining Control of the Puck
