“ It all starts with good goaltending and defence”

DEFENSIVE ZONE – DEFENCEMEN – KEY THINKING

• Don’t pinch at their blue line usually unless you are 100% SURE you can win the puck or keep the puck in their zone or at least get to the puck at the same time their player does and overpower him not allowing the puck to move up ice, unless a forward is coming back to help and then still be 90% sure you can win the puck or keep it in their zone
• Angle their forward with the puck to our corner as their forward comes down between you and the boards – take ice position so he can’t get to the middle
• Read the play on 2 on 1’s and 3 on 2’s and adjust accordingly – don’t lunge
• Don’t back in beyond the top of the circle
• If they get to puck first in our corner
  • angle as you go to him so he only has one way to go
  • lift his stick and body check
  • prevent a give & go by blocking his way to the net if he passes off by taking ice position first

• 8 options in own zone when they shoot it in depending on how much time you have
  • freeze it for a face off
  • put the puck between your skates, take the hit, fake freeze and then pass
  • pass to other open defence behind our net off the boards
  • pass against the flow around our net up the other boards to our winger on boards
  • pass with the flow up the boards to our winger
  • shoot it out off the glass and out
  • carry it out – no chances
  • pass hard up the middle to centre – 100% sure
• Cover the man in front, go where he goes unless he goes away from in front – try to see where the puck is at the same time – feel him by contact and watch his eyes – they’ll tell you where the puck is
• Move their man net front away from our goalie and from the very top of the crease, so our goalie can see the puck and get the best angles on their shooter
• Defenceman to open defenceman pass between our blue line and our net, and between our blue line and red line, especially when we win the face off at centre
• Cross ice pass when over blue line (make sure) to wide side winger or easy pass up to centre or to same side winger
• If we win the draw at the face off circle in our zone and the puck comes to the defenceman behind the centre at the side of the net, he should immediately pass the puck around the boards behind the net hard to the far side winger at the hash marks