Week 8 - Puck Possession
The games this weekend, while frustrating, were a great learning experience. The team is a great team and play extremely well as a team. They are not afraid of getting gritty and move the puck really well. I challenge you to watch some of the game video on Hudl and use it as a learning tool. That team used a cycle in the corners, used their defensemen on the point, and made a lot of very short passes to create space and exploit our aggressive over-pursuit. Small mistakes on our side added up to overworking and running out of energy to be able to defend.
What can we learn from the games? A couple big things become visible.
First, we need to be smarter in our zone. While we were generally in the right spots and are doing a better job of not collapsing, we still aren't scanning enough. Scanning more will allow us to better cover passing lane. It will also allow us to see those trailing attackers sliding into dangerous spots that turn into easy goals. Strong-side wingers need to be tighter on the wall to cut off the corner-to-D pass. Weak-side defense need to come more into the middle of the zone to cut off the cross seam passes. Defensemen and low forward / centers need to be supporting the corner battles more aggressively and be quicker to engage the attackers sliding to "soft" spots. All of these things are fixable with work. This all starts with increasing your scanning frequency.
Second, we need to create more offensive zone time. While our breakout and transitions are much better and more frequent than early in the season, we tend to get a chance or 2 to score in the offensive zone and then are back to defending our own zone. How do we solve this? We learn how to cycle the puck, use our defense, and make the other team chase. Be efficient with your movements. Let the puck do the work.
This week, our practices will focus on puck protection and puck movement. The objective is to spend a lot more time making teams defend instead of defending ourselves. We should be relying on efficient movement rather than chasing. Make the other team do the skating. It will make our 3rd period a lot more comfortable.
Come ready to work hard and be open to feedback. See you at practice!
Extra reading:
- Watch coaching clip "How to be evasive along the wall" as part of practice plans
- What Is Forechecking? And What Are The Keys For Each Forechecking Role?
- Skating: Why You Should Be an Ankle Bender