From minor hockey through to the NHL, one of the toughest plays for a hockey player to play, normally a winger, is the puck being rimmed around the boards towards you while at the same time the opposing defenseman is pinching down the boards in your direction.
All coaches get frustrated when their wingers don’t protect, control or chip the puck past the pinching defender. Coaches I have spoken to have tried many different approaches and tactics to ease this situation for their wingers and their team.
Some wingers like to run the pinching defender. Other wingers prefer to eat the puck along the boards, trying not to give up possession. There are many options. The following idea has worked well for coaches at all levels of the game.
As the puck is being rimmed around the boards towards the far-side winger, the closest defenseman supports the winger, staying towards the boards but still between the puck and the net. As the puck arrives on the winger’s stick it gets bumped back to the supporting D and then passed up to the supporting centre. This little back and then up play, when well executed, gets many teams out of deep trouble and sometimes springs a full-ice 2 on 1.
Ryan Walter played 15 seasons in the NHL and is now a coach with the Vancouver Canucks. Join Ryan in July 2009 on his Leadership/Coaching Cruise to Alaska – find out more at www.leadershipcruise.com and sign up for Ryan’s free e-newsletter on Leadership at www.ryanwalter.com
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