Recreational?

There's 1:30 left in the third. It's a one goal game.

Do you shuffle your lines, or do you go with whoever is next? If there is a power play (for you if you are losing, against you if you are winning), does it change your answer?

Lately, I've been going the shuffle route. Is that unfair to the guys who aren't as good, but are paying just as much? Is one shift that big a deal?

Help Clearing the Crease

Three more lessons?

(1) Sometimes you have to watch a lot of chaff to finally get to what you want;
(2) Opposing players in tip videos often aren't trying very hard;
(3) This has some good tips on how to help clear the crease on defense (some of which will make your opponent mad)

Defense Training Video

There are three things to learn from this video:
(1) Not all Canadians are great hockey players;
(2) Beginner Adult Rec-Hockey is really slow;
(3) This is a pretty good description of basic zone defense (which my present team -- me included -- has been sucking at).

Without further ado . . .



And finally, my apologies for not posting in over two months . . . what can I say? Off season, followed by summer hockey.

Base Plays: Hybrid Zone Defense

Again, our team needs to keep it simple. Here is the hybrid zone defense. What makes it "hybrid" is that once a player establishes his zone, he looks for someone there, and checks the player in his zone closest to the net. The defending player stays on his check until another player takes over for him and the zone is restablished or the breakout begins.

The second piece is important as well. To avoid leaving players open in the slot, if the center is drawn to the corner, the weak-side wing needs to drop into the high slot to prevent open shots from there. If the defenseman retrievs the puck, that winger must immediately skate to his boards to prepare to receive a breakout pass (Click on image for larger view):

Base Plays: Offense

My team has several players (including me) who have never been coached. As a result, we try to keep things simple. Here is our base offense (or at least what I'd like our base offense to be). You can click on the images for for larger views:

Basics

So, leading the league, at 10-1, you lose to the second worst team, at 2-8-1. Time for some remedial advice. How did it happen? Not having our top three scorers hurt. Spending nearly an entire period shorthanded hurt. Turnovers hurt. Basically, not playing as well as we normally do hurt. Nonetheless, time to get back to the basics:

(1) Forwards: need to crash the net on the offensive end. We're getting shots, but not rebounds, even when the puck is sitting there. When you have an open shot, take it, and when you see someone taking a shot, crash the slot in front of the net (the slot, not the crease).

(2) Clearing: we have to do a better job clearing our zone. That means make the pass when it's open (don't wait for someone to force you to make the pass), and covering/using the boards effectively. When the puck is coming around the boards, the forward has to be there to pick it up. If someone is barreling down on you and (a) you don't have time for a pass; or (b) there isn't one open, just dump the puck down the boards.

(3) Defensemen (and centers): we need to keep the slot/crease in front of our net clear of opposing players. Most goals scored against us come from too many opposing players left uncovered in the slot and cleaning up second and third rebounds. One thing to keep in mind as a defenseman is that when you see an opposing player wind up for a shot, don't look at the shot, look for other opposing players in and around the slot to cover.

Thus endeth the basics . . .